How to Avoid Buying Tampered Plants

How to check that you are buying plants legally

TRAFFIC suggests performing these five simple checks.

1. Wild or nursery grown?

Many rare and endangered plants are successfully grown in nurseries, so how do you know if your plant is sustainably grown in this way or if it was collected from the wild?

Although nursery-grown plants are clean, healthy, and uniform in size, wild plants may be irregular in shape, have marks or scars from growing in their natural environment, and they may be larger or more mature than your average nursery-grown specimen. Their roots may have cuts or tears or you may notice that the shape of the plant has changed as it has grown, marking a transition from wild to potted.