I haven't caught up on my reading yet but, wanted to respond.
As a recipient of several AOS/CBR awards & as a Probationary Judge for the AOS I want to stress the award as a recognition by the AOS of a plant never before presented to a judging team at an AOS judged event! (It is usually given the epithet "rarity in culture" or "educational value")
As a species grower of many genera with an affinity for Pleurothallids, Gongora & Brassias I know that many of my plants are described & written about but, that no one has seen them in person. To send a plant to judging with citations for the appropriate literature to look it up helps inform the team what to look for as a base. In most cases the CBR IS A BASE, it will now be in the AOS records with an accepted taxonomists' ID. When hybridizing takes place parents can be found, well grown specimen plants & their growers can be awarded & (godforbid) line breeders & hybridizers have an "accepted" base to grow from.
For example, at the AOS Members meeting here last week, I brought a lovely specimen sized plant of Restrepiopsis striata to put in the Pleurothallid Alliance display. It was extremely well grown by the member that got it in Ecuador & some of the people there knew what it was & remarked on how nice she grew it for a "weed".
It was pulled for AOS judging from the exhibit & seriously looked at by a team. It was given an AOS/CBR because the plant, although well grown, had not been seen before. The plant & FLOWERS fit into the perameters of the literature & it still needs to be IDed even though some people knew it.Judi was thrilled & all judges now will have a good base to use in the future...
>From cool growing Masdevalias & Cymbidiums in San Francisco to Paphs. in the North & Vandas in the South -AOS awards are standards to work with...
AND, as far as I'm concerned, the standards & ethics I was brought up with still adhere & I would be happy to serve on the WOC judging roster in Miami as I did as a clerk in Vancouver. THE TEAM makes the decision with much thought & no politics...
Kind regards,
Kathy in MN
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