TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A Virginia man pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges he illegally imported one of the most prized orchids ever found after buying it at a roadside flower stand in a Peruvian mountain village.

James M. Kovach, who brought the orchid to a botanical gardens in Sarasota in June 2002, faces a maximum six years in prison and a $350,000 fine if he's convicted of smuggling and possessing the flower.

Orchids such as the one Kovach bought are protected under the Convention on International Trade Species, which forbids the trade or movement of certain plants from country to country. His trial is expected to start after March 1.

Kovach's find of the peach-and-purple flower — twice the size of others of its kind — has been called the most significant in the orchid world in the last 100 years.

Kovach, of Goldvein, Va., took the orchid to the Marhe Selby Botanical Gardens, where scientists classified and named it for the man who brought it to them: Phragmipedium kovachii.

Kovach did not speak to reporters after the court appearance.

Marie Selby, a top identifier of orchids, pleaded guilty last week to a misdemeanor charge of accepting and handling the flower, and the gardens agreed to pay a $5,000 fine.

Horticulturist Wesley Higgins agreed to a plea deal specifying house arrest for six months, probation for a year and a $2,000 fine.