|
| Never, ever, no-how under any circumstances get rid of an orchid unless it's a real dog. If so then list it on E bay as a rare, hard to find treasure and sell it. I have a Coelogyne cristata which is cascading out of it's pot with about 30 inflorescence and is in spectacular bloom. Took it to the Westminster show in SOCAL yesterday where it won 'Best of Show'. Hooray! This is a sizable plant but for C cristata it's just getting started as these guys get absolutely huge. This is only the second bloom! It is a rambling, cascading mess with the oval pbulbs about 3" apart on the interlocking rhizomes. I have another one at home which is in an 8" pot and is totally different. Pbulbs are round and sit right on top of each other. Must have about 20 of them but has yet to bloom. The other one also was fairly large before it's first bloom so no problem there. I almost sold the second one as someone wanted it and I certainly don't need 2 of them. I'm glad I didn't as I had an enlightening conversation with Lauris Rose from Cal Orchids and Andy's people. Andy, at time of writing is making frequent trips to the commode so could not be there. The point of all this is that there are 2 distinct forms of Coelogyne cristata. The regular one and on called cristata v grandiflora. The regular one is a cascading mess and grows all over the place with lots and lots of flowers. Since the pbulbs are about 3" apart, the flowers are also somewhat spaced. The other one is totally compact and they tell me that once it starts blooming it will blow me away as it will look like a giant snowball. The pbulbs are squashed against each other so the inflorescence will be right on top of each other giving the snowball effect. Jay Phal's site only refers to one of them describing the growth habit as follows: 'They have ovoid psuedobulbs well spaced on a visible rhizome with two narrowly lanceolate, flexible leaves .' The grandiflorum variety is totally ignored. At Andy's cage he has both of them for sale and the difference is obvious. In my GH I have both and the difference is also obvious. Out of ignorance I almost got rid of one of them which brings me back to the beginning of this thread. Unless it's a known dog, never get rid of an orchid. The opposite is true, get one more, no matter how crowded, there is always room for just one more. Nick
|
Follow-Up Postings:
|
| Congratulations on the best of show! A gorgeous orchid often seen at orchid shows around these parts. Cascading mess describes it out of bloom. Must take ages to get up to large plant size. According to the checklist of species kept by the Royal and Ancient Orchid Society (Lol) there is only one variety of cristata, so all these other "varieties" must have happened in cultivation. Of course the variation should be reflected in the name but my understanding is that variety should only be used where the variety was found in the wild. Maybe Coelogyne cristata 'Grandiflora�. |
|
- Posted by orchidnick z9Ca (orchidnick@yahoo.com) on Sat, Feb 9, 13 at 19:39
| Andy sells it as Coelogyne cristata v. grandiflorum. At the world orchid Conference in Tokyo, best of show was won by a gigantic Coelogyne cristata. Apparently it was this variety. Cal Orchids also sold it as such but is out now. I'm waiting for experts to step up and enlighten us. Nick |
|
| Hi Nick, Do you know any nomenclature purists? You just cannot invent varieties. The guys that do all this stuff are Botanists who need to publish papers that need peer review. There seems to be a trend to reduce the number of Varieties which is great. Yay! RHS. Not so great are the changes to the hybrid register such as where the RHS have visited Claudehamiltonara upon us humble orchid growers. Imagine writing this on a benching card, Claudehamiltonara Hidden Gold 'Arthur's Delight'. Now Claude is/was probably a great guy, BUT..... Back to the main subject. Maybe the varieties business only refers to the flowers. So if the plant with the clustered pseudobulbs has flowers that are the same form and colour (but say larger or with better habit & arrangement) than the straggly normal variety, what happens then? This question might arise if AOS Judges decide to award your plant in the future. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Orchids Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.