Unpopular Orchid Opinions

[Subrosa]

Originally Posted by Jeff214

I used the phrase "extinct or near extinct" to imply the limited gene pool of a species, whether that may be in the wild or in cultivation. I phrased it that way to include the idea about populations in the wild that are gone, distinct from populations in cultivation (since selection pressure and time frame of changes may not be the same). You could say that it's a pointless distinction but I was getting at how different line-bred populations can look from what we've consider more "wild" looking.

I was just lamenting that if line-bred plants (that I don't particularly like) are all that is left while the rest disappear (from the wild and from cultivation) it is a disappointment for me. And like isurus79 and I both mentioned, those new purpuratas....! Man, I just dont like them, haha. Sorry if anyone does.

Think of the word "extinct" exactly like the word "dead". Dead is dead, with no degrees of death. You can only be a little bit dead in the movies, but you can certainly be almost dead as a species can be almost extinct. But if that near extinction includes the entire population of a certain area or even the entire wild population, that species is extirpated from the area, not extinct in it. When the last individual anywhere is gone, the species is then extinct. Or, as in the case of the ivory billed woodpecker which has apparently been recently rediscovered, mistakenly considered extinct.

---------- Post added at 10:41 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:35 AM ----------

Originally Posted by Leafmite

My unpopular opinion...the criteria for awarding species orchids might be erasing the uniqueness these species orchids once possessed.

Many 'species' orchids are starting to look very much like other species and the descendants of fragrant species are often no longer fragrant, even if they were known for their wonderful fragrance.

If a species orchid goes extinct in the wild and none of the orchids that descended from these have the fragrance and appearance of the original orchid, that orchid is truly gone.

What your referring to would be referred to as "functional extinction" by the same people who should know better than to say "extinct in the wild" but don't. The term is often used in referring to the American chestnut tree, which is far from extinct or even "functionally" so. There are individual trees which have resistance to the blight which decimated the species, and crossing these naturally resistant trees has produced increasing levels of resistance. It's just that this recovery isn't going to happen within the time frame of a human life, hence the lack of understanding.