Life on the line: Wild orchids are lucrative but gatherers face many dangers in the rough conditions. — Photo cadn.com.vn

by Bui Duc Tu

QUANG TRI (VNS)— Orchids from deep in the forest have a beauty which ranks high in the minds of pot plant buyers and enthusiasts, creating a source of income for those living in mountain and forest areas.

Many, like 23-year-old Ho Van Dinh, even risk their lives plunging deep into the undergrowth or climbing high into the canopies on foggy mountain tops.

At the first gleam of daylight, cooking flames light up the kitchen in Dinh's house in Huong Hoa District in Quang Tri Province. His wife finishes preparing food for him to go out hunting for orchids.

Soon, other men in Dinh's team arrive with tools and wine, the latter to help them "keep warm" on their way to the forest. Putting rope, knives, rivets, hammers, flashlights and food in bags, they head off to the 1,700m Voi Mep Peak.

After three hours walking, they stop by a stream for a break. Dinh pours wine into the stream to commemorate orchids pickers who lost their lives in a flood.

"They were swept away by the water and slipped from the cliff to the stream," Dinh said.

Walking until dusk, the team reaches the peak where they light a fire and pitch a tent.

The hunt begins at daybreak, made easier because the orchids are in bloom.

The most valuable orchid is the foxtail orchid (Rhynchostylis gigantea), according to Dinh. It has long, thick, densely packed inflorescence – clusters of fragrant flowers – which appear in spring in white, purple, pink, dark red and in spotted forms. People buy them during Tet (Lunar New Year).

Dinh notices a cluster of foxtails at the top of a tree and soon the men are hammering nails into the century-old tree to assist their climb and they use ropes to tie themselves to the trunk while they extract the the orchid's roots from the tree.

The team is happy to see nine big foxtail orchids and many small ones.

"We sell wild foxtail orchids to dealers for VND200,000 (US$9) a kilogram and they sell to retailers and customers in the lowlands," Dinh said. "The wholesale dealers never refuse to buy from us, especially wild, scarce orchids which are not easy to get."

Gathering orchids has its dangers, but it is not only the humans that are threatened. The precious wild orchids are in danger of dying out in Viet Nam forests.

Duong Tan Nhut, vice director of the Central Highlands Institute of Scientific Research, said: "Wild orchids should be protected, otherwise they may be lost."

Propogating wild orchids in a laboratory is not easy but specialists are working on it. It takes a year for a seeds to sprout and grow into a sapling. Then the orchid is brought out of the laboratory and planted in its natural environment where it grows and blooms after three years.

Meanwhile, growers are aware that wild orchids are nearly exhausted. They have set up forums and societies to share experience in growing and protecting the plant.

Quoc Dung, a member of Vietnamese Bonsai Club, is active in sharing knowledge and experience in growing orchids for others. He said owning a pot of wild orchid picked from the forest is wonderful but growing your own until it blooms is also an amazing experience.

Dinh says the work is hard and dangerous. Recently, a man from his village died after being bitten by a poisonous snake. He was found several days later by other orchid hunters.

Meanwhile, a man in Dinh's team, Ho Van Kham, tells his story of the dangers involved in harvesting the plant in the wild: "I broke a hornets' nest by accident when I tried to take a cluster of orchids one day. Thanks to a nearby stream, I escaped but I had a fever for the next few days."

Before each trip, Dinh and his fellows prepare offerings to the gods in the forest and to fallen gatherers to pray for safety. When the men leave their houses for the forest, the wives wait anxiously.

"One day I would like to have another job while I'm still young and healthy," Dinh said. "If I pursue this work I may lose my life as dangers are everywhere." — VNS