Talk:Cypripedium calceolus

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	Cypripedium calceolus is within the scope of WikiProject Plants, an attempt to better organize information in articles related to plants and botany. For more information, visit the project page.
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An anon editor is deleting material from this page, without edit comments to explain why. I'm leaving this note on the article's talk page to encourage him/her to provide some reasoning. SP-KP 17:02, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

I think the IP wants to keep the precise location secret. It has occured many times in the past that plant-collectors dig up wild orchids to plant them in their own garden or sell them. --BerndH 08:23, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

Yes, that's what I think is the motive. However, this location is well-known and published elsewhere, and we don't censor Wikipedia. SP-KP 18:58, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

I really have strong reservations about the information regarding the location of the last surviving native Lady's Slipper Orchid left in the British Isles. The edit summary given for the reinstatement of the location implies that due to the successful conservation programme, the locality of the plant is not required to be kept secret. In my opinion this a severe misjudgement.

The over collection of this plant was the principle factor in its decline during the 19th century. Unfortunately, although illegal, plant theft is still commonplace in the British Isles. In 2001 the Bog Orchid (one of the most endangered orchids in Europe) became extinct in south east England following the theft of the last remaining plant in Norfolk. Given that this orchid remains locally abundant and much easier to find in north western parts of the UK, the motive for this theft may have been in part due to it being the last plant in that county. I would argue that the status of the Lady Slipper Orchid at Wharfedale as the last native plant in the UK is likely to make it a specific target for theft even though cultivated plants have been introduced at previous sites.

The removal of part of the (not native) Lady's Slipper Orchid at Silverdale in Lancashire in 2005 was well publicised. Recently, Lady Orchids (nationally scarce) were dug up from the Yockletts Bank reserve in East Kent. In January of this year, virtually an entire colony of the rare and declining Meadow Clary at the Plantlife reserve at Ranscombe was dug up. Therefore, given that plant theft is still a regular activity, and the Wharfedale Lady's Slipper Orchid's status as the last native plant in the UK I would dispute the reason given in the edit summary for the reinstatement of the information. I would also argue that the above statement that the locality of the the Wharfedale Lady's Slipper is well known is misleading (certainly prior to when it was revealed on Wikipedia) although this issue has been discussed on another talk page. --GkgAlf (talk) 23:38, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm inclined to agree. I'm also not sure how location information really is relevant to an encyclopedia, since most of the reasons for having it strike me as falling under WP:NOT#TRAVEL and other such policies. Kingdon (talk) 04:35, 18 March 2008 (UTC)

As I'm here merely to edit an encyclopedia, I'm not going to engage with GkgAlf's comments above as they don't seem to have anything to do with Wikipedia's purpose or policies, but appear more to do with his/her opinions on conservation matters (apologies if I'm misreading). Kingdon's point is interesting, and I hadn't thought about this before. Maybe the inclusion of the information in this article isn't appropriate in that it gives WP:UNDUE weight to the presence of the plant in Wharfedale. I'd be inclined to support the removal of the information from this article on those grounds therefore, while reinstating it in the article about Grass Wood, assuming that there aren't any other relevant policies which suggest we shouldn't list it there either. SP-KP (talk) 18:57, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Apologies. The point I was attempting to make is that the status of the Lady's Slipper Orchid at Wharfedale is still far from secure and I felt that the edit summary did not justify the re-instatement of the information regarding the plant's locality. Of course you may have had other reasons for re-instating the information.

I am both a contributor to articles on sites of biological interest on Wikipedia and sympathetic to the purpose of conservation. Perhaps it is impossible to be both with regards to this issue. However, I accept that Wikipedia is not censored, and given that you have a source for the locality of the Lady's Slipper Orchid then I can see no reason that is outlined in any of the Wikipedia guidelines that should prevent you from adding the information to the relevant article.--GkgAlf (talk) 16:54, 22 March 2008 (UTC)