The photos suggest wild collected plants. However, one of the biggest flaws in the laws protecting carnivorous plants, the land owners can do what they want with the plants on their land. I would avoid buying such plants as there are plenty of nursery grown plants in the world today. Gone is the time that Sarracenia only came from field collecting. Today tissue culture and seed grown plants are common place.
I would suggest not sending rude emails to the seller. At this time we do not know if the plants in the mentioned auction are field collected. The photos could be simply for reference. I will be sending a message asking more about the plants being sold. I will let everyone know what the response is.
[Edited by Nick Hubbell on 7/2/2003 8:28AM EST]
Not including the above ebay auction, has anyone else noticed that more and more cps on ebay are being photographed bare root? I find it odd that someone would pull plants out of the pots to photograph the root systems before selling the plants. This stresses the plants more than is needed. I have seen several auctions for venus flytraps and the seller has the actual plant out of the soil to photograph. Today I noticed at least 5 different auctions for various Sarracenia that have the plants out of the soil. I know people ship bare root plants, but I would think the plant would be bare rooted closer to shipment.
Now a comment on ebay plants:
Ebay is not the best place to find plants for sale. No one knows the true origin of the plants being sold. Hybrid plants such as S. wrigleyana, S. Judith Hindle, Red Dragons, Dente, etc are from tissue culture or divisions, we know this because they do not grow in the wild. Nepenthes and other plants that do not grow native in the United States are also plants that are somewhat safer to buy. However, species of Sarracenia and common venus flytraps are very questionable. If you look at the locations of the sellers, you can get a good idea towards the origins of the plants. For instance, if you find someone selling common venus flytraps and they are located in North Carolina, it would be a very good idea to avoid that auction unless you know the plants were cultivated in a nursery. Another drawback to buying plants on ebay is that if you shop around at various online nurseries, you will find that the plants can be had for less than those on ebay and with lower shipping costs.
Observations on sellers:
Not all ebay sellers are selling poached plants. There are several nurseries that do sell on ebay and they are reputable nurseries. I have also seen plants being sold by members of the ICPS.