A baby one.....

At ELK, a limited number of M. bertholdii seedlings were available.

I was concerned about where they had come from, as the type location was described as having only a small number of plants.

I now understand that several larger additional populations have been found since its original discovery, and that from the few plants that were taken, flowered, seeds set and extracted, and what was on sale were the 2nd generation results of intensive micro-propagation and grafting. I was amazed at the speed at which this can happen, but do trust the guy who offered me one as I know him well, which is probably why I did not pay the prices being asked (20-50€).

It's very young, but this is what it looks like. I just hope I can keep it growing well enough....

Wonderful, Chris. It's incredible what one can do with grafting these days, and the speed at which prices drop because of this is a powerful tool against poachers. I bet 20€ will be the upper bracket for the price range on this species next year...

I agree, the technology nowadays should help to dissuade poachers. It would be good if some nurseries across the world could be "approved" by the Mexico government to be the sources for such excellent propagation. That is the best way of ensuring that the poachers have no market. I do have some qualms that the original plants from which these seedlings were propagated were taken illegally. But there are few other options really. It is better to take a few and produce a lot from them than have habitats totally destroyed.