my orchids are growing, but what are they Part II

[zuerose]

Here's another closer picture of the bud. Hopefully it's good enough that someone knows what it is. The stick in in only says:

Blc. Williette Wong
'The Best' AMIAOS, CRIHOS

Thanks again - Sue

[kmarch]

Well the stick says it all, you've got a Blc. Williette Wong 'The Best' AM/AOS.
The "I" aren't "I" they're "/" This plant is probably a clone of an award-winner. AM/AOS would mean the plant was awarded an Award of Merit by the American Orchid Socitey. An Award of Merit (AM) is for flower quality and means it received a score of 80-89 points out of 100. When a flower wins an award like this it is given what we call a cultivar name, in this case 'The Best'

The Honolulu Orchid Society gives out its own awards and CR/HOS indicates this plant has received an award form the Honolulu Orchid Society, but I do not know what CR standa for.

[Tobi]

Sue,
You have a Brassolaeliacattleya (Brassavola x Laelia x Cattleya). Similar
culture conditions as Cattleyas'. It's a very lovely flower. Below is a link to
see the bloom.
http://www.fendersflora.com/picture....=williettewong

[zuerose]

Cool!!! Now I really can't wait for the flower to bloom. I paid $7 for it and picked it because it looked healthy. Even though I had no idea what it was - the price was right. The bud's pretty small but, if it looks like the photo, who cares?!!? I'll send a picture when it's ready.

With so many names, is it a hybrid of some kind? I don't know alot but I've been told that there are many hybrids in orchids.

The other orchid I bought from the same place for the same price has a stick that says:

Otaara Jane Fumiye (not sure of the spelling on the last word)
'Hawaii' AM/AOS

What does it mean?

Sue

[Tobi]

Sue,
Intergeneric hybrids are orchids that are crosses of different genera. You
can also have species hybrids which are orchis in the same genus that are
crossed. Your Otarra is a intergeneric hybrid composed of crosses of Brassavola,
Broughtonia, Cattleya, Laelia and Sophronitis.

[mayres]

Another nice cattleya type orchid with pic of bloom here - http://www.sdahldtp.com/fumiye3.htm
The "Otaara" stands for a cross of four different genera - Brassavola x Broughtonia x Cattleya x Laelia. You beat me to the "punch" tobi!. I had to look this one up myself as I had not seen it before - so maybe it helped me to remember by inputting as well! It also looks like the list that I used has a very slightly different mix - here is the source list I used - http://www.orchids.mu/Glossary/Glossary_O.htm.

[Tobi]

Sorry Mike!! I had it in my notes only because of my new Otaara Hwa Yuan
Bay that just flowered for me.

[zuerose]

Another beautiful flower. I'm happy with my choices, especially since I had no idea how to choose, except by price. I figured if I didn't spend too much, I wouldn't lose any sleep if I couldn't keep it alive.

I thought the names were of the family that grew them, maybe a Spanish and Asian family. duhhh.

Learning alot here.

Sue

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by zuerose

Cool!!! Now I really can't wait for the flower to bloom. I paid $7 for it and picked it because it looked healthy.

Congratulations, you've mastered one of the fundamentals of successful orchid hobby growing, picking out robust healthy plants. It's a great start. and the price was right indeed!

Originally Posted by zuerose

With so many names, is it a hybrid of some kind? I don't know alot but I've been told that there are many hybrids in orchids.

Yes you have what we call a hybrid and yesm there are many, many hybrid orchids out there. New orchid species ("species" orchids are as they are found in the wild, not hybridized) are still being discovered in the wild and it is estimated that there are 35,000-40,000 orchid species. Hybrid orchids are man-made crosses, not occuring in nature and it is estimated that there are another 125,000-130,000 orchid hybrids. Orchids are the second highest selling flower, second only to Pointsettias.

Originally Posted by zuerose

The other orchid I bought from the same place for the same price has a stick that says:

Otaara Jane Fumiye 'Hawaii' AM/AOS

What does it mean?

Otaara is a very comples hybrid containg the genera Brassavola, Broughtonia, Cattleya, Laelia, and Sophronitis. There's a lotta veg in that soup. Your spelling is correct. Here's a picture of what it may look like. The more complex the hybrid, the more variety in their offspring so your flower may end up someing out different.

Happy Growing!

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by Tobi

Sue,
Intergeneric hybrids are orchids that are crosses of different genera. You
can also have species hybrids which are orchis in the same genus that are
crossed. Your Otarra is a intergeneric hybrid composed of crosses of Brassavola,
Broughtonia, Cattleya, Laelia and Sophronitis.

I'm sorry but I need to issue an important correction here (nothing personal, Tobi, so please don't take offense).

The definition of an Intergeneric Hybrid is correct (gold star! ). It is a cross between plants of 2 different genera.

A species orchid, however, is not a cross between 2 orchids in the same genus. A species orchid is an un-hybridized orchid that occures naturally in the wild. A cross between orchids in the same genus is called an Infrageneric Hybrid.

It's an important distinction. For example: Cattleya Brabantiae, a cross between 2 other Cattleyas (C. aclandiae and C. loddigesii) is still a hybrid and not a species eventhough both parents were Cattleyas. C. aclandiae and C. loddigesii are the species orchids as they are found in the wild.

[Tobi]

Kevin,
No offense taken and thank you for making me aware of that. I had never
heard of the term infrageneric in that reference. That's what I love about this
forum. I learn something new every day.

[zuerose]

Thanks for the orchid lesson. As with any good student, I have a couple of questions so I can try to understand this better. Or rather than take your time, here are a couple of my questions and maybe you can refer me to a site...

1) do terms like Brassavola, Broughtonia, and Cattleya (I see this one alot) refer to the species? Or to a class of orchids?

2) can you buy a non-hybrid orchid? Are they more expensive, like a pure-bred dog? how do you know if what you're getting is a pure-bred? do they come with papers?

3) how do they create hybrids? (not going to try - just curious)

This is what came immediately to mind when I read your reply. Thanks for the lesson - it's interesting - the world of orchids enthusiasts is a kind of subculture, yes?

Sue

Originally Posted by kmarch

Congratulations, you've mastered one of the fundamentals of successful orchid hobby growing, picking out robust healthy plants. It's a great start. and the price was right indeed!



Yes you have what we call a hybrid and yesm there are many, many hybrid orchids out there. New orchid species ("species" orchids are as they are found in the wild, not hybridized) are still being discovered in the wild and it is estimated that there are 35,000-40,000 orchid species. Hybrid orchids are man-made crosses, not occuring in nature and it is estimated that there are another 125,000-130,000 orchid hybrids. Orchids are the second highest selling flower, second only to Pointsettias.



Otaara is a very comples hybrid containg the genera Brassavola, Broughtonia, Cattleya, Laelia, and Sophronitis. There's a lotta veg in that soup. Your spelling is correct. Here's a picture of what it may look like. The more complex the hybrid, the more variety in their offspring so your flower may end up someing out different.

Happy Growing!

[kmarch]

There's an article on the forum here that explains orchid names and how they work. Orchid Nomenclature Give it a read.

Originally Posted by zuerose

1) do terms like Brassavola, Broughtonia, and Cattleya (I see this one alot) refer to the species? Or to a class of orchids?

The names you refer to are the genus or generic names, the genus is one level up from the species.

Originally Posted by zuerose

2) can you buy a non-hybrid orchid? Are they more expensive, like a pure-bred dog? how do you know if what you're getting is a pure-bred? do they come with papers?

Yes you can buy non-hybrids. They're called species. I would say, on average, they are no more or less expensive than hybrids. The names of species orchids are written in a certain way (see the article) that is different from hybrids and that is one way you can tell. If you are interested in orchids, you'll eventually come to learn to recognize the differences. Most orchids so not come with pedigrees although I have seen a grower of Cymbidiums (very high-quality, award-winning parents, etc) that had witten-out pedigrees for his plants.

Originally Posted by zuerose

3) how do they create hybrids? (not going to try - just curious)

Hybrids are created by crossing species, other hybrids, or a combination of the 2. Once a new hybrid flowers it can be registered with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) and named. The RHS is the main world body responsible for registering orchid hybrids. There are different types of hybrids which I can explain if you're interested.

Cheers

[Ellen]

Just to add a little info to this thread, many of the orchid species in cultivation today are highly inbred since they are all descended from a few ancestors that were originally brought from the jungle somewhere. Those of us who grow species will, for convenience, often do self-pollinations or pollination between sibs, but the best strategy from a genetic point of view is to do what is called an "outcross", which means crossing individuals of the same species that are not closely related to try and increase the variability in the gene pool of that species and improve its vigor. For any orchid pollination I do, I keep records that include photos of the pod and pollen parents, their cultivar names and the sources from which they were obtained and, if possible, the same info for the grandparents. This is about the closest you can come to a "pedigree", since with this information it would theoretically be possible to go back many generations.

With registered orchid hybrids it is generally possible to do research and find out what hybrids were further hybridized to produce that particular hybrid, and from there to go back to the species that originally contributed to each hybrid in the background. The info is out there, it just doesn't automatically come with an orchid when you buy it. However, most growers would be willing to give you as much info on their orchids' ancestry as they themselves have.