Orchid Fever

An exuberant romp through the surprisingly bizarre world of orchid collectors, where decorous matrons swoon over blooms,
bureaucrats act like SWAT teams, and reputable scientists punch customs officers in the face.
Hansen's (Motoring with Mohammed, 1991, etc.) skeptical mind makes him the perfect guide to an activity that now
generates nine billion dollars annually and rivals the 17th-century Dutch tulip mania in the fanaticism it inspires. During travels
in the Far East, while attempting to help rain-forest villagers raise orchids for export, Hansen learned about CITES (the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), a Geneva-based environmental agency that,
in his opinion, operates more like a group of thugs than an informed consortium of scientists and conservationists. Without any
supporting data, they refuse to permit botanists and nurserymen to collect and breed orchids CITES considers endangered. Those
who transgress their rules have their homes searched and their possessions, as well as their orchids, confiscated—or they wake
to find a posse, armed with machine guns, surrounding their greenhouse. Hansen also introduces us to collectors like octogenarian
Eleanor (who calls a provocative orchid of hers