Catasetinae - perfect flowers, hermaphroditic flowers
 

Greetings -
I've looked for this information all over the 'net without finding it...okay, Clowesia were detached from Catasetum because they have 'perfect' flowers, rather than male, female or hermaphrodite as Catasetum do.
So - what's the difference in flowers between perfect and hermaphrodite? Visually, can you tell?
And since I'm asking the weird stuff, what's say I have a Clowesia x Catasetum (which I do!), will the flowers be male, female, perfect, hermaphrodite, or some 5th sex? (Now we're talking!).
This is partly idle curiosity, but also a genuine serious question. This whole group of genera is really lacking in information!
Thanks - Nancy
(budding: that Clowesetum and Cyc. warczswiczii - ooh!)

For cycnoches (which I know best), it is sometimes difficult to tell (for things like chlorochilon and loddigesii) and sometimes very easy (peruvianum). On the latter, the flowers are so distinct you would think they were in a separate genus.

I think the term hermaphrodite is used to refer to flowers that are intergrade between the male and female phenotype. Sometimes (or perhaps most of the time?) they are still capable of providing pollen or ovary.

Now, when you cross 'perfect' and sexually dimorphic species together, what do you get? I suspect it will vary within a grex, with some being perfect and some dimorphic. But I really don't know.

A good reference book for these orchids is "The World Of Catasetums" by Authur W Holst. It covers Catasetinae species & hybrids (including intergeneric) it is well worth the read.
Craig:biggrin:

From what I have read recently, when you cross a Clowesia with a Catasetum the progeny will all have perfect flowers. Not sure what happens with second generation flowers if you back cross a Clowesetum on to a Catasetum.