THE ORCHID THIEF BY SUSAN ORLEAN

by scriber

Question that we will discuss the 16th of January

  1. What’s the topic/purpose for this book?
    1. Obsession with the orchid
    1. Collecting “stuff” is a way of life
  2. Lot of poaching going in (long lists)  stole tree to sell and buy crack  (A true desire)
    1. Was “somewhat” involved with the heroin, cocaine, and marijuana trade while in Panama
    1. Read about different means the smuggling occurred
    1. Everything in the woods have a price.  Even for prostate cancer
  3. Talk about Jach Laroche  (I liked him….he reminds me of not one, but many people I have encountered….these people are always  “on the chase”.
    1. Smart/crazy/no teeth guy who liked orchids until after the courts decision he became a web publisher
    1. Liked to win best of show in orchid conventions
    1. Always thinking about what will make him filthy rich
    1. John Laroche is tall and handsome
    1. He is a troublemaker and a weird kid
    1. He liked turtles, ice age fossils, lapidary, old mirrors, then orchids, even tropical fish
    1. He is also self-taught
    1. He is a profitable optimistic person, he even likes marijuana magazines 😊.
    1. He stolen orchard out of Florida swamp because they are endangered  (maybe he saw $$$ signs)
    1. He was charged with possession of endangered floral species
  4. Plant crimes on earth Florida land scams
    1. Gulf America was trying to “soocker” some pre-owners that cost $10 a month.  Sales were for lots costing 1,250.
    1. People signed contract for the mortgage without even seeing it.
  5. Don’t understand the orchids as a sexual reference?   Discuss!
    1. Is the orchid blossom resemble a body part?
    1. What does the color mean?
    1. Smell?
  6. As I was reading this book, what did I expect?
    1. More thrills
      1. Like chases
      1. Physical attacks
      1. Maybe guns?
      1. More talk about money
      1. The MO of the poaching
    1. Have Susan actually see the ghost orchid (live)
      1. Would that have lost the intent of the non-fiction story?
      1. Why wasn’t it arranged for her to actually see the plant, or the person from Georgia who traveled to the swamp and did not see any blooms?
      1. Though, I’m comfortable with how the book closed, the obsession desire is well documented.

12/19/23 started

The Orchid Thief:

Chapter 3 gives the history of orchid hunter back to the 1820s’

Prologue

  • Talk about orchid poaching being used as a movie
  • From a story written in 1995
  • For the movie adaptation
  • The author was going to be a character in the movie
  • Susan had some situations taken out
  • How passion shapes our lives Location 169   5%

The Millionaires Hothouse

  • John Laroche is tall and handsome
  • He is a troublemaker and a weird kid
  • He liked turtles, ice age fossils, lapidary, old mirrors, then orchids, even tropical fish
  • He is also self-taught
  • He sees a profitable optimistic person, he even likes marijuana magazines
  • He was the ringleader of the porches
  • He was charged with possession of endangered species
  • He talked about the Fakahatchee strand of wild orchids P. 8
  • 50 acres of everglades dries up every day
  • Fermenting change P. 9
  • Florida excites people.  It seems fresh!  P. 10
  • Laroche grew up in North Miami
  • He went from photos to collection of orchids
  • He focused on really secret/rare stuff
  • He gave the lawn grass away (trading deal)
  • He wanted the best of everything P. 17
  • Mutation is for fun and profit
  • Evolution is from mutation  P. 19
  • He liked plants because they always seem to adapt

Cloning the Ghost p.22

  • He was in a car crash that knocked out his teeth P.23
  • Laroche got hit by a storm…it wiped out his farm P. 24
  • Unemployment for Indians are about 40% p. 25
  • Clone orchid and sell.  Using a lab…not grass (from his trade)
  • It takes an orchid plant 7 years until a seed is created.
  • He thought he was clear by the Indian exemption,  THE GHOST ORCHIRDS
  • There were two cases where the Indians and the state interlocated
  • 13%/p. 33
  • Jack was not boring (at all)
  • He thought he could beat the law
  • He was on the sides of the plant
  • Gay people are your friends in the plant business P. 34

A  Green Hell

  • Grass gets really dry  in the field p. 41  Fakahatchee
  • Many orchids in forest
  • Botanist do not like going in the Fakahatchee
  • She went with Tony who is also an orchid collection
  • Orchids are all a little means.  P. 45
  • There were ghost of rangers who were murdered years ago by illegal plume hunters  p. 46
  • People wanted to see this ghost orchid  (it’s like a religion)  p. 47
  • She had a passion to see this flower
  • From a phone call Jack says the flowers are out there “I stolen them”

Orchid Fever

  • Orchidaceous is a large, ancient family of perennial plants with one fertile stamen and a three-petaled flower p. 49
  • Over 30,000 orchid specious
  • Orchids are considered the most highly evolved flowering plants.  P. 49
  • One thought is the orchid might have evolved from soil from a meteor P. 49
  • Orchids are strange by their look P. 50
  • Flowers as long as 10 inches long
  • Most specious have multiple colors p. 51
  • There is no black orchid
  • It’s self-pollinating plant
  • Orchid is the majority of flowers
  • Bugs like to mate with the orchid (pollination)
  • Insets like the smell of dying meat
  • Darwin really liked orchids
  • Orchid pods can generate millions of seeds (super-charged)
  • Orchids live on air
  • They grow slowly (orchids)
  • They can live forever (orchid)
  • Orchid stated in tropics
  • The seed needs something for food
  • Orchid is the sexes’ flower in earth
  • The author even gave the orchid given to her away
  • Powerful orchid connections
  • Monopoly creator retired at 46 and is in love with orchids p. 61
  • Orchids are ugly when they are not flowering.

A Mortal Occupation

  • # of orchids are not even counted…to many plus those created p. 64
  • Some people like the challenge of collecting specimens p. 66
  • Hunters (orchid) prose in rough places looking for the prize.  P. 67
  • Hunters take all the plants they could get
  • Story of some hunters in Columbia or World War I
  • Orchids found on human bones.
  • 1869 the Suez Canal was open for transportation
  • Most hunters were young or how to identify the plants
  • Page 80 25%
  • Looked for meanings of existence (hunters)
  • 1228 was the first book on orchids p.83
  • 1800 in England it “was new”
  • 1830 a gardener Paxton was dubbed as the “orchid guy” Orchids were for the “upper class” p. 88-9
  • Growing was for the rich P. 89
  • Kew was dubbed the grave for orchids (“potted and rotted”)
  • Orchids were only collected by men P. 90
  • Collectors donate the flowers to Harvard College P. 92
  • Orchid country is dangerous and romantic P. 93   fall in love with the flower
  • Inn Florida she would come back from the field, go for a run (watching out for alligators), and get a bite to eat.
  • Talk of the Flagship mansion P. 98
  • P. 101 30%
  • Orchid banquet raffling off “stuff”
  • Orchid a slightly evil and mysterious P. 102

Gorgeous

  • Jack usually stood up the author p. 104
  • Plants are everywhere.  Like money p. 105
  • Don’t give orchids to much food p. 108
  • Don’t use bloom booster p. 108 for wimpy plants
  • Hybrids are a man made body P. 114  (like creating/having sex)
  • Seeds take 7 years to mature P. 115
  • With cloning it’s like dandies creation
  • If it’s rare it becomes desirable P. 117
  • Orchid loving is a sickness P. 117-8
  • Laroche kept talking P. 118-9
  • A lot of money in plants P. 123
  • Laroche was for the plants

The Good Life p. 125 36%

  • The rangers glued orchids back on the trees with liquid nail that Jack Laroche had stolen p. 125-6.
  • The start of the melaleuca trees in Florida drinks water
  • Its written that it will dry out an acre of wetlands per day p. 127
  • Seeds were scattered by plane in Florida
  • These plants hate to die.  They reseed themselves
  • Trick is to kill the tree slowly
  • Hack and skirt to kill the plant p. 128
  • Was author afraid of some Pakistani food? P. 132
  • Caring about something shows area of opportunity! P. 135
  • Lenolin Rosen bought the Fakahatchee property in 1966 and made formula number 9 for balding p. 142
  • P. 143
  • Gulf America was trying to “soocker” some pre-owners that cost $10 a month.  Sales were for lots costing 1,250.
  • People signed contract for the mortgage without even seeing it.
  • Hotel rooms were bugged for the salesman.
  • Nothing was built for this land sale
  • Golden Gate is a swamp.
  • Real-estate schemes have grown on Florida property
  • Many scammers tried to sell Florida property.
  • Land is emerging from the swamp p. 150
  • It’s the quality
    • Cheap land
    • 9 month growing season
    • A fresh new start! P. 15
  • Gulf America stock was sold for almost 11.5 million
  • The Gulf became a marijuana storage bin
  • Ranger Mike was met on the route to see the stolen orchard p. 155
  • The author stopped at Kmart to get entire for her swamp walks P. 157
  • She preferred sneakers instead of boots  p. 158
  • Deep lake runs/drops 97 feet into the ground
  • Limbs were wired to apple trees (orchids on these limbs) p. 163
  • They were in a “squad” with two inmate giants (like 7 feet tall)

Anyone can grow orchids

  • Ghost orchids are sure death
  • You can’t get rich growing orchids
  • People like to be “in the natural world”  plants, snakes, and animals
  • Orchid people drive all over Florida.
  • Try to limit display to 100 sq. ft.  but no one followed this “rule”
  • People like working on a new hybrid, those these could have been brought in from Thailand.
  • P. 179 50%
  • Jamaca collectors attended Martin around Miami (orchid man) p. 179
  • Tsk-though shall not covet
  • Closed with 11th commandment p. 183

Plant Crimes P. 187

  • It’s illegal to collect wild orchids p. 196
  • Ghost orchids likes the mango tree and a palm apple tree
  • Was going to sell orchid for $100.00
  • The pod theft last many plants    p,201 56%
  • She planted on a mango tree P. 202
  • She had a seed pod
  • In 1990 there were stolen over $150,000 in orchids (prize winning)
  • Biggest heist of a specific plant P. 203
  • Went to an orchid convention in Miami P. 211
  • Bob Fuchs was the King of orchid breeding P. 212
  • His fame peaked at the Miami orchids.  He got the best award for orchids
  • Made Bob a star at the convention
  • He was competing against Frank Smith
  • People like defeating Bob in orchid shows
  • Bob tried to judge orchids at shows
  • Bob went to trail because of threatening phone calls P. 223
  • The war between Bob and Smith lasted for a decade P. 224

Barbecued Doves

  • People are drawn to Florida
  • Flowers come by wind or ships
  • People are arrested trying to smuggle goods into Florida P. 225-6
  • Plant smuggling is a international trade
  • Appendix 2 is for collecting orchids (rules)
  • People motivated by profits not the environment P. 228
  • Selling “lady slippers” p. 229
  • Orchid show in Japan promoted more orchid smuggling p. 230
  • 2,000 lady slipper smuggling in from China p. 232 to Miami
  • The author was looking for a international smuggler p. 234
  • Lee was on a dangerous smuggling for plant collecting P. 242
  • He went from plant to art smuggling.  P. 243
  • Smuggling Columbian goods P. 243
  • Lee eventually returned to plants P. 244
  • Larohe likes to ghost orchid P. 244
  • Lee was totally unique, not compared to anyone.   P. 247
  • He started his life of adventure traveling as a youngster.  P. 248

Osceola’s Head

  • Earlier in the month Laroche was found guilty of working with the ghost orchids
  • But tribal rules allow the people to take flowers P.250
  • It is illegal to collect wild plants except for Indians P. 251
  • So can the Indians take ghost orchids from the fakahatche.
  • The rule does not count regular trees (living trees) P. 253
  • Laroch was found guilty of all changes P. 254
  • The tribes also had slaves    p. 256-7
  • Seminoles were led by Osceola  (head story….where is it? Did it burn?)
  • John Laroche took a bold position of poaching P. 262
  • Buster took author to the nursery. 
  • Seminoles are still at war with the US
  • Did Laroche dupe the author?
  • Did he turn to horticulture as therapy?
  • Only rules Laroche follow are his impulses p. 270
  • He is always poor p. 270
  • He ended up getting fired (severance pay) from the Seminoles
  • More than 1/2 of plants died
  • P. 274 76%
  • The tribe bought their trees from the Seminole nursery P. 275
  • It now more practical without Laroche P. 276
  • Laroche had weird ideas that would not sell p. 277
  • They even had a Seminole pageant p. 277
  • Laroche did not like “things” that die
  • 1979 the tribe opened it’s first bingo which led to the tribes own casino business P. 286
  • Burt Reynolds is part Indian who appeared for adds P. 287
  • Billie like to guide and hunt p. 289  he shot the animal of Florida – state animal.  He was the chief.
  • There was also cross breeding to the Florida panther
  • Lawsuit that the state interfered with the Seminole religious belief p. 293
  • Panther hide was used for medication p. 293
  • White people are to make money, the Indians are to save the earth p. 298

Fortunes

  • Laroche just forgot about the Seminoles P. 300
  • He had forsaken the orchids p. 301  find the satisfaction?
  • His finish is absolute.  Laroche
  • He was now in love with his computer
  • The internet is not going to die
  • Life with Laroche was in the extremes!
  • Ben late from Du Pont cause for a settlement
  • She was standing in millions of dollars of flowers at a show
  • Bob Fukes showed at the show. P. 315
  • The orchid world is like a family circle p. 316
  • Ghost orchid talk p. 318  looking for something you want
  • The show prize went to Bob Fukes

A Kind of Direction

  • Woman asking about a ghost orchip
  • She came to the fukahatchee to see the orchid…but it was not blooming P. 324
  • Plane crash in “the pocket” P. 326    by “Spirits of nature”
  • He says he is an internet publisher.  P. 328     John was being eaten up with the orchid craze
  • He admits that he does miss it (plant collecting)

The Philodendron Phreaque

  • Rare and unusual plants
  • Laroche looked like a cat hanger
  • He was thinking about software that might make him rich P. 335
  • J.L. says he know the direction like the back of his hand
  • The Fakahatchee consists of 80,000 acres P. 343
  • He like collecting because of addiction
  • J.L does not like any living things
  • They got lost in the Fakahatchee
  • The author did not see a ghost orchids.

Florida Land scams

Is the orchid a personal desire?

Laroche was the authors/reporter “subject”

Completed 12/30/2023

Leave a comment