Quote:
Originally Posted by kmarch  Cj,
I understand your position and the usefullness of applying cultivar epithets to non-awarded plants. I can understand why you'd want to do this. To clarify, I wasn't stating anopinion on whether or not I thought non-awarded plants should be given cultivar names as much as I was laying out the reality of the situation. Cultivar names not given/registered resulting from an award are not binding. Someone who bought one of your plants and got it awarded could choose to keep your cultivar name if they wished but would be under no obligation to do so. The point is probably moot anyway because if the plant was a clone and the judges were aware of it, it would most likely not be awarded.
There's another ethical issue in play here and that is that people less knowledgable of such practices (givign cultivar names to non-awarded plants) might think that they're buying an awarded plant when they are not. I'm sure you're upfront about this when you sell your orchids but some are unfortunately not. Awarded plants, even clones are often more expensive (not always) and giving the impression that a plant is awarded when it is not could lead to other questionable practices. It's somethign orchidists should be mindful of. |
Well, unless I think the plant is awardable, I just tack on a code number.
As for official registry of clonal epithets, from the perspective of a breeder, what about plant patents and other means of registering cultivars? I guess my feeling is, if you've worked with any group of orchids long enough, you can spot a potential award on first bloom. Of course, you aren't likely to start setting capsules on that plant on first bloom, and I wouldn't exihibit a plant until at *least* the 2nd or 3rd blooming. However, from a commercial perspective, it makes a lot of sense to have that quality plant cloned. Within two years you have clones coming out of flask which are immediately marketable, vs. three years waiting for an award and a plant strong enough to hold a capsule. Now, if you register that clone with a plant patent ahead of time, that *is* a binding designation. In fact, I'd wager that a plant patent is more binding than an award.
Not that, in practice, a clonal name means beans. As it turns out, changing a name on a tag in one's greenhouse is very easy, and despite how unethical, does happen. Who can prove one way or the other? The only way to really protect your investment as a breeder/exhibitor would be to keep a gene map of all of your awarded/cloned plants.
-Cj