Susan Orlean

Susan Orlean was inspired to write The Orchid Thief when she found a newspaper article about John Laroche. Originally, she only planned to write a short article about Laroche for The New Yorker, but she soon found that there was more to the story. In the book, she writes about exploring the world of plant breeders, shows, and conventions, and she speaks with many dealers, including Laroche, about their work. She adds to their insights by recounting the history of orchid collecting, discussing some of the intrigues in the plant world, and following Laroche's legal battle. In the end, despite Laroche's best efforts, Orlean never gets to see the ghost orchid.

John Laroche

John Laroche has two nicknames: Troublemaker and Crazy White Man. He's tall, skinny, eccentric, and is missing his front teeth. He has had many passions in life: turtles, Ice Age fossils, old mirrors, and, perhaps most importantly, plants. When Susan Orlean meets him, he's obsessed with plants, in particular orchids. He's a big name in the plant world and wants to strike it rich by cloning the rare, expensive ghost orchid. He's arrested after he attempts to steal plants from the Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve with the help of three Seminoles. He argues that he's not culpable because he himself never touched the plants, but the judge doesn't agree. He's sentenced to six months probation and a fine. Following this, he loses interest in plants and becomes obsessed with computers.

Chief James E. Billie

Chairman of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. "Chief" Billie was arrested for killing a Florida panther, a protected species, but was acquitted on a technicality: the prosecution couldn’t prove for sure that the animal was, in fact, a Florida panther, because its genes had been muddled by cross-breeding of species in the wild. Chief Billie successfully argued that he killed the beast for a Seminole religious ceremony. His acquittal inspired Laroche to take advantage of the "Seminole loophole."

Tom Fennell

Fennell is one of the most well-known orchid men in Florida. In 1994, Fennell became a millionaire when he and his wife Trudy won the Florida state lottery. For a long time, Tom was the owner of the Orchid Jungle, a tourist attraction and nursery founded by his grandfather. When tourism to that part of Florida died down, Fennell was forced to close the Orchid Jungle. He still grows orchids, though. Like Laroche, Fennell is a regular at conventions, and he's well known for his displays.

Martin Motes

Motes is the owner of Motes Orchids and is one of Tom Fennell's neighbors. Motes specializes in vandas, a genus of orchid known for its long-lasting flowers. Like Laroche, Motes is interested in genetically engineering orchids. In particular, he wants to create a particularly lucrative cross-breed that will become popular enough or prized enough to make him rich. Tom Fennell introduces Susan Orlean to Motes before showing her around the Orchid Jungle.

Savilla Quick

Susan Orlean meets Savilla Quick at a meeting of the Orchid Society of the Palm Beaches. Quick is known to have a special touch when it comes to raising ghost orchids out of their natural habitat. In some ways, she succeeds where Laroche fails, because she's able to establish a successful business based on ghost orchids. Quick also deals in other plants, but makes a point of refusing to sell plants to people who are only passingly interested in plants. If she suspects the customer will let the plants die, then she refuses to sell to them.

Bob Fuchs

Fuchs is quite possibly the most decorated orchid dealer...