species and hybrid??

[pugmom]

Whats the difference?

[FLBob]

Species refer to the plant that was found in nature, even though the plants that are sold today are coming from growers the breeding is from the plants originally found in the wild.

Hybrids are crosses of species to create a new plant that is not found in nature. Today many hybrids are across of hybrids.

A corollary would be wolf = species poodle = hybrid

[pugmom]

So hybrids are not found in nature and species are.....

Cool.

So you would assume that hybrids are easier to grow? since they are some what man made? Such as a poodle would be easier to live with and care for then a wolf would be.

I am also going to assume that most of the orchids you find readily available on the market are hybrids?

[FLBob]

You are correct that most hybrids are easier to grow and flower than species, but as with all things there are exceptions. There are some species that are very easy to grow.

When looking at the label of an orchid, by convention species are all in lower case while a hybrids name will begin capitalized.
example:
phal equestris - species
phal Nobby Amy - hybrid

[janet_a]

there are some natural hybrids out there in the wild too. and also, you will find a fair number of species for sale, especially at orchid nurseries (as opposed to home depot).

but yes, personally i've found that the more complex the hybrid, the easier it is to grow (to the point that i bring some species into my house and they basically fall over dead. phal bellina, for instance).

i try to stick to the hybrids.

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by pugmom

So you would assume that hybrids are easier to grow? since they are some what man made? Such as a poodle would be easier to live with and care for then a wolf would be.

Originally Posted by FLBob

You are correct that most hybrids are easier to grow and flower than species, but as with all things there are exceptions. There are some species that are very easy to grow.

I would not assume that hybrids are easier to grow than species. It's just too much of an over generalization. What makes an orchid, any orchid, "easy" or "difficult" to grow is how well you manage to give the orchid the culture and conditions it expects. If you take a cool, wet growing orchid and grow it cool and wet, it will thrive and seem very "easy." If you take that same orchid and try to grow it hot and dry it will die faster than you can say "difficult." At present I have about 80 plants that are species and I find them no more difficult than the hybrids.

In this case the poodle analogy isn't an apples-to-apples comparison because with the domestication of dogs, it's about behavior while with species orchids, there's no behavior, it's all about cultural requirements or growing conditions.

Originally Posted by pugmom

I am also going to assume that most of the orchids you find readily available on the market are hybrids?

A lot of them are, yes.

Originally Posted by FLBob

When looking at the label of an orchid, by convention species are all in lower case while a hybrids name will begin capitalized.
example:
phal equestris - species
phal Nobby Amy - hybrid

To clarify and correct Bob's post, it should be Nobby's Amy and the genus (in his example Phal - the abbreviation for Phalaenopsis) is always capitalized. Bob is correct however on his explanation of how species names are not capitalized while hybrid names are. Another helpful tip to tell the difference is that species names are all Latinized while hybrid names are in modern languages, overwhelmingly in English. Very early on, in the late 1800's some hybrid names were Latinized but you probably wont' see very many of these and these names will be capitalized. For example:
Phal equestris - species - genus (Phal) capitalized, species name (equestris) Latinized and not capitalized
Phal Nobby's Amy - hybrid - genus (Phal) capitalized, hybrid name (Nobby's Amy) in modern English and fully capitalized.

[Choodles]

A few thoughts on the issue
In describing plants, it is broken down thusly ( a lot of people remember it by King Philip Came Over For Good...Stuff)

Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
species (or hybrid name would go here if not species)
variety (if applicable)
Cultivar (aka selection, also as applicable)

What we use starts at family (they're all in the orchid family). Then you have the genus, species, variety and cultivar. A few examples:
Phalaenopsis equestris (genus, species)
Cypripedium acaule v. alba (genus, species, variety)
Cymbidium Mighty Sunset 'Jerry' [Genus, hybrid (ie grex), cultivar (or selction)]

The permutations of this go on and on, but this should get you started in understanding taxomy.
Hope this helps (hope I got it right, too- anyone back me up or prove me wrong- please do!)

Happy growing-
Chris

[pugmom]

Yes it does help,

What I meant by "hybrids were easier" was for that they were more "domestic" or more adapted to the life of a normal house plant.

I don't think people would "breed" or create plants on a mass scale for the retail market if they were not able to keep them alive in "normal or average" conditions.

That's all I meant, because this analogy (to me as a beginner) makes the most sense.


I am also finding (as I get more involved and learn more about orchids) that some more experienced growers or fanciers tend to "look down on" or "think lesser of" the hybrids over the species.

I don't know if this is because they are easier to grow, because they are more readily commercially available or common, or because they are popular wedding flowers lol.

Anyways just my observation.

I hope to learn more as I get more involved, it seems the learning is endless with this hobby.

[Brooke]

Orchids aren't domesticated the same way a dog has been domesticated from the wolf. Some very curious person crossed Species a with Species b to see first if he could do it and second, what the offspring would look like.

Todays hybrids are created with a goal in mind by that specific hybridizer. If he accomplishes it, it is mericloned for the mass market.

I don't think anyone looks "down" on someone who only grows hybrids. Do you look down on someone who grows mostly species? Beauty is always in the eye of the beholder.

IMHO most species are easier to grow because you can get very specific cultural information on them and with hybrids it can be a guessing game.

Welcome to the addiction.

Brooke

[pugmom]

I like the wolf/poodle analogy.

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by pugmom

I am also finding (as I get more involved and learn more about orchids) that some more experienced growers or fanciers tend to "look down on" or "think lesser of" the hybrids over the species.

Pugmum,
Don't take the species vs hybrid argument as anything more than tongue in cheek snobbery. It's a dogs vs cats type argument. The majority of experienced growers still have a preference towards hybrids. The "species only" position has come about as a response to a long entrenched mentality that hybrids have improved upon nature and, therefore, species are only good for (a) creating hybrids and (b) reminding us how much better hybrids are. Don't read too deeply into this type of bickering. The people doing the bickering certainly don't.

[koshki]

Andrew, thank you for your post. I was about to share with Brooke that I, too, have picked up on a "species only"...shall we say, sensitivity? among a few members here, and even at my local orchid society, where a misplaced plant was moved from the species table to the hybrid table (with rolled eyes).

But I enthusiastically agree with Brooke...we love the plant for the beauty we perceive, however we perceive it!