Orchids join endangered species list

A new study has suggested that because of illegal trading, Paphiopedilum callosumis, one of several species of slipper orchids, has been classified as endangered. The illegal trading of exquisite orchids at plant markets in Thailand is "invisible" because hardly any of it makes it into government statistics that are supposed to document illegal trade in wild flora, noted Jacob Phelps and Edward Webb of the Center for International Forestry Research, Science News reported.