Bc. Back-cross?

[jwcane]

Just captured an orchid image whose tag began with "Bc.". Web search turned up the following example:

":...made by backcrossing Brassavola nodosa into Brassocattleya Morning Glory...Brassocattleya Wonder Star = Brassavola nodosa x Brassocattleya Morning Glory".

Why would the resulting hybrid not have a new name?

Had not heard of backcrossing. But does that mean that a hybrid is back-crossed into itself? Does that make sense? Seems a bit convoluted, or perhaps, incestuous?

[tucker85]

I'm not familiar with the term 'back crossing'. Bc. means it's a Brassocattleya, a cross between a Brassavola and a Cattleya. A cross does not have a name of it's own until it's registered.

[BruceP]

Backcrossing is crossing a hybrid with one of its parents (not necessarily the actual parent plant, but one of the same species). It's a way of attempting to accentuate certain traits conferred by one of the original parents. As per your example, this type of crossing will produce a new and differently-named hybrid.
Crossing a hybrid with itself does not result in a new hybrid and so will retain the same name. Incestuous? No, as I don't think the term applies to plants. Plus, the parents of two of the same hybrid could have different parents (albeit of the same species), just as crossing a Labrador Retriever with a Poodle gives you a Labradoodle, not all Labradoodles are assumed to come from the same parents and may have very different genetic traits.

[jwcane]

Thanks, makes more sense now.