In 2014, five tourists traveled to the United States to marvel at cacti in the national parks. But when it becomes clear they’re doing more than just looking, U.S. Fish and Wildlife agents begin surveilling the suspects.

In this episode, we examine how there’s a thin line between passion… and obsession. Is there a difference between overzealous collection and callous crime? And does your motivation – whether pure admiration or a paycheck – matter?

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Philodendron Spiritus-Sancti is one of the rarest plants in the world. Many call it the “Holy Grail of Philodendrons.” In May 2020, the San Diego Botanic Garden had one of these plants as their centerpiece. But in the dead of night, it was stolen. 

In this episode of Bad Seeds, a look inside a booming craze for houseplants and how a cultural obsession might be killing the things we love the most. 

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In 2020, police in Italy raided an apartment in a small coastal town in the Adriatic. Inside it were one million euros worth of stolen goods. But Italian police didn’t find firearms, drugs, or other contraband; they found succulents. Specifically, 1,000 specimens of Copiapoa cacti, all stolen from the Atacama desert in Chile. 

This is just one of many stories like this. There’s a growing black market that deals in stolen plants. Since the pandemic, theft of plants has become more rampant and more lucrative. Not only is it causing more crime, but this “unscrupulous collection” of plants is one of the leading causes of extinction among plants. And the loss of biodiversity takes its toll on all of us. Join plant expert and author Summer Rayne Oakes as she plunges into the world of plant poaching. 

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.