Peloric Phalaenopsis ?s

[jkofferdahl]

I like peloric Phals. I have an equestris which is very stable, bloom after bloom, and these blooms are exceptionally beautiful. On the other hand, a cornu cervi v. flava is somewhat unstable, at times giving me both peloric and non-peloric blooms on the same spike - a trait I find to be charming. About a year ago Peter Lin sent me photos of one of his plants where flowers were bilaterally peloric - by which I mean that one half of the flower, one petal, showed peloric traits while the other petal was normal. In my view these are all delightful flowers.

[Subrosa]

Originally Posted by jkofferdahl

I like peloric Phals. I have an equestris which is very stable, bloom after bloom, and these blooms are exceptionally beautiful. On the other hand, a cornu cervi v. flava is somewhat unstable, at times giving me both peloric and non-peloric blooms on the same spike - a trait I find to be charming. About a year ago Peter Lin sent me photos of one of his plants where flowers were bilaterally peloric - by which I mean that one half of the flower, one petal, showed peloric traits while the other petal was normal. In my view these are all delightful flowers.

Orchid flowers normally possess bilateral symmetry, like people do. A straight line bisecting either at the proper place produces 2 (for all intents and purposes) identical mirror images. A peloric bloom on an orchid possesses radial symmetry, like a starfish. It has mirror images arranged radially around a central point, normally in multiples of 5 for the starfish and multiples of 3 for orchids. I would LOVE to see a pic of a bloom that can't decide which it wants to be!