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  #1 (permalink)  
Old 11-25-2008, 10:00 PM
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Default What's In A Name?

A new story entry has been added:

What's In A Name?

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mean, of course, &quot;What's in an Orchid name ?&quot;

I've noticed in the short time that I've been a member of the Orchid Board the confusion that beginners have with orchid names. The information they find on the tags that come with their orchids is a complete puzzle to them. I can sympathize. I remember the confusion I felt at the totally incomprehensible names and abbreviations I found. I was so confused that I threw away the tags that came with the first orchids I owned, not knowing how important they were. Not only did I consider their plastic ugliness a detraction from the flowers, but the information on them was meaningless to me.

Knowing the names of your orchids makes you seem more knowledgeable, but knowing the name can also get you a wealth of information about culture and care. Without a name a plant can't be entered for judging at an orchid show and ordinarily won't be considered for AOS awards - no name, no fame! Without a name no one else can envy you enough to find the orchid you have for themselves. It's in the hope that the following information will help beginners sort out the names of their plants and understand better the importance of these admittedly complicated names that this article is written. Don't throw your tags away; learn to read them.
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Old 11-25-2008, 10:38 PM
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Thanks for the article. Very informative!
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Old 11-26-2008, 08:21 AM
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Thank you for the very informative article!

It is important for us to understand the information on the name tags. We need to know a plant's parentage so that we can try to provide conditions in which that plant may thrive...I also really appreciate the abbreviation list you've provided. So many folks use the incorrect abbreviations when listing their plants, not realizing that they may be giving the plant a totally different "nationality"

Well done
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Old 11-29-2008, 01:57 AM
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There are plants that I've bloomed as Encyclias but later became Prosthecas, or Cirrhopetalums that became Bulbophyllums. It does get tough to keep track. Still, it's fascinating that these name changes are occurring because of increased genetic understanding.
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Old 11-29-2008, 05:12 AM
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just a bit more information on names:

First, a clarification of the Example N°2 in the article above: In order to avoid confusions (I saw this discussion in another forum!) we must say that giving a name to a clon, as for example aunt 'Queenie' and aunt 'Leonie' also has a rule to be followed: If you give a name, only to differenciate a plant in your collection from another one, you add the name you want, but it is valid only for you. The name becomes official ONLY when that particular plant is awarded by an Orchid Society and allowed to receive a clonal name. This name belong to this plant and should be kept for divisions or mericlones of this plant. For this reason, you can see several nurseries all over the world selling plants with the same name, e.g. Cattleya skinnery 'Heiti Jacobs' FCC/AOS - This was an exceptional plant, which was awarded and received a clonal name, then it was mericloned and made affordable to almost every one.

Sometimes, as "Aboutorchids" has said, one find teh same plant with two or more different names, e.g. (1) Cattleya aurantica and/or Guarianthe aurantica; or (2) Dendrobium delicatulum and/or Dendrobium minutum and/or Dendrobium nanarauticola and/or Dendrobium parvulum.

In both cases, the names are considered synonyms, however only one of them is considered valid for the taxonomy of the plant.
  • In example (1) the genus of the plant has changed. This is based on the work of a botanist (taxonomist, phylogeneticist, or systematicist) who has reviewed the genus of the plant, and has found enough morphological evidences to separate the plant into a different genus - note that these changes are not always immediatelly accepted, and sometimes (based on further work) they are reverted.
  • In example (2) we have a group of names referring to the same species. to make it simple, we can say that the same espicies (maybe different varieties) were described at different timepoints and given with different names. Which one is vaild? For the taxonomy of the plant, the rule is very simple: the first name given to the species! Sometimes the first name given included the plant in the wrong genus... well, very easy, the plant receives the name of the correct genus, but keeps the species name given the first time (with some changes in the ending of the word, based of latin grammar)

Furthermore, you can also see that some plants has some extra parts in their name:
  • subsp. xxxx: this is the Sub-especies name. A population has enough characteristics to separate it from the rest, but not enough to be re-classified as a diefferent species, e.g. Dendrobium purpureum subsp. purpureum and Dendrobium purpureum subsp. candidulum - it is also valid just to name it as Dendrobium purpureum purpureum
  • var. minutum : this is the variety of the plant. This mean that a certain population of this species (Note: Varieties are given ONLY to species, not to hybrids!) has several morphological features that separate it from the rest, but these features are not enough to separate them into a new subspecies. (the limits between variety and subspecies are not always clear, and are ground of discussion!)
  • f. alba: this is the "form", which normally means a particular colour feature of the flower.
  • subgenus: same as for subsp, but at genus level.
  • Catasetum xtapiriceps: the x before the species name, means that this plant is an hybrid, however you can see the name is not writen in capitals (as normally accepted for hybrids). This mean that the plant is a natural occuring hybrid In the case os Catasetum xtapirices, it is accepted as a natural hybrid between Ctsm. macrocarpum and Ctsm. pileatum
Assignment of "variety" or "form" level followes the same taxonomic rules as for species and genus: it is valid ONLY if there is a description in latin in a publication, which is accesible to the public and a specimen of this "variety" or "form" is kept in a recognized Herbarium! Another important point to mention is that ONLY morphological characteristics should be used for assignement of Genus, species, sub. species and variety, and colour features can be used ONLY for "form" (in th epraxis you will find that there is a lot of confusion, and you will see "form" called "variety" and viceversa)

There are still many many variations in the names but I think the ones mentioned in the article above and the additions I have made here, are those most commonly found.

Taxonomy and naming of plants can be sometimes quite annoying if you need to change the names of your plants every now and then, and sometimes becomin quite difficult to follow or accept new changes (like Laelias transferred to Sophronitis). However, it is a necessary and very important "part of this game"


oops! this became quite long...
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Last edited by kavanaru; 11-29-2008 at 12:27 PM..
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Old 11-29-2008, 10:52 AM
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Smile Another important note!

Now that my head has stop spinning. Thanks for that important bit of information. I'm guilty too of throwing away the tags on some of my first orchids. Another thing to mention; some nurseries/vendors, might not have registered their hybrids with RHS/Sander's List (Royal Horticultural Society). So it's best to ask the growers which parents' (seed and pollen) crosses make up their hybrid; to give it the best possible care, once you bring it home!
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Old 11-29-2008, 06:41 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kavanaru View Post
just a bit more information on names:

First...
I wanted to keep the article as simple as possible since it was written for beginners.
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Old 11-29-2008, 06:46 PM
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Default Stolen Orchids

One of the orchid societies of which I was a member had serious trouble with orchids being stolen from unlocked greenhouses and from outdoors, by someone who seemed to know when and where to strike. The solution adopted by many of the members was to remove the name tags from their orchids and replace them with numbered tags that were keyed to a list kept in some secure place.
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Old 11-29-2008, 06:51 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ronaldhanko View Post
I wanted to keep the article as simple as possible since it was written for beginners.

You did a fine job of giving the information most beginners need.

If anybody feels the need for more extensive information, they can then refer to what has been added by other members.

It's the best of both worlds all in one neat little package!
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Old 11-29-2008, 10:16 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ronaldhanko View Post
I wanted to keep the article as simple as possible since it was written for beginners.
and I think you really did a great article it was not my intention to write that much I just wanted to add that regarding the clonal names, as I was involved in a long discussion oin another forum, and thought that was something that confuses beginners.... but then, the theme was so interesting I kept writting. Only after I sent it I saw it was too long, and added the last sentence... sorry
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