[OGD] Grammatophyllum speciosum / blooming in Indiana (US)
Oh dear oh dear oh dear. The Indystar article Viateur cited: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070217/LIVING02/702170390/1084 made the preposterous statement The first public viewing of the species in bloom was in 1851 at Crystal Palace in London. In the interests of accuracy, this species was blooming on public display in the Bogor Botanic Gardens from the early 1820's. And what about the plants that flowered in the wild a thousand (or more) years ago ? The concept of private property hadn't arrived in this part of the world, so those wild displays were definitely public. Caucasians might not have been around to admire them, but I'm sure the locals were. Bloody eurocentric thinking. Oh, and while we're on the subject, specimens of Grammatophyllum speciosum are in the record books as the heaviest known orchid, not the world's largest. The stems on this species only get to 3-4 metres long; I could cite several others that regularly grow longer than 20 metres. Chees, Peter O'Byrne ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] wealth for farmers (Vietnam)
With some 755 orchid species, suitable climate... Vietnam is likely to become a major orchid producer in the region [!], according to floral experts of the Ha Noi Agricultural College No. 1. At present, only a small number of large companies, including foreign-invested ones, cultivate orchids in the Central Highlands city of Da Lat, HCM City and the Mekong Delta province of Dong Nai, with growing area of about 50-60 hectares each. In some other localities, orchids are cultivated at a household scale, with cultivation areas ranging from some hundreds square metres to some thousands square metres, except a dozen households who own one or two hectares. The Viet Nam Institute of Agricultural Genetics and Biotechnology has gained initial success in producing orchid hybrids by a tissue implanting method, thanks to means transferred from Thailand. Some localities such as the mountainous district of Sa Pa in northern Lao Cai Province and the central Phu Yen Province have taken initial steps in surveying and researching orchid cultivation methods and working out orchid production processes. According to Nguyen Thi Diem, Director of the Centre for Technological Application and Transfer under the Phu Yen's Department for Science and Technology, her department is actively carrying out a project on collecting and building an orchid garden in an area of some 5,000 square metres in Hoa Quang Commune, Phu Hoa District. Project officers have so far collected nearly 50 orchid varieties [species ?] and have also imported more than 100 others from abroad. Having many valuable and rare varieties in the same locality, this pilot orchid garden would not only be a tourist destination, but also move towards supplying orchids for the market through tissue implanting and cultivation. The Centre for plant breeds and cultivational technology in Phu Yen Province has also gained initial success in implanting orchid tissues, growing about 300,000-500,000 young orchids of common species such as Phalarnopsis Manii Reichb. F. [mannii Rchb.f.] and Oncidium [?]. In order to meet local demand and to export orchids to the world market, the floral industry in Vietnam has to pay close attention to such issues as breed creation, production technology, cultivation, post-harvest technology, packing, quarantine regulations and investment in infrastructure expansion. According to experts, orchid cultivation will bring about considerable incomes for farmers. Statistics by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development show that farmers could earn up between VND500mil to 1bil (US$31,250 to 62,500) for each hectare of farmland if they cultivate orchid species [hybrids ?] of Dendrobium or Mokara... Vietnam, at present, spends billions of VND to import orchids from neighbouring countries to meet its people's demand. HCM City alone in 2003 earned a revenue of some VND200-300bil from orchid and ornamental plant trading. The figure increased to VND400bil in the first quarter of 2006, while orchid and ornamental plant trading households rose to 1,000 from 264 in 2003. article URL : http://english.vietnamnet.vn/tech/2007/02/665375/ Regards, VB ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] Stig Dalstom discusses / Florida (US)
Coalition for Orchid Species: Stig Dalstrom, curator of Mary Selby Botanic Garden in Sarasota, discusses the terrestrial orchids, phragmipedium bessese and phrag.kovachii... Monday... Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden ... Coral Gables. ... Pan-American Orchid Society: Stig Dalstrom... discusses orchid conservation... Tuesday Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden article URL : http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/home/16715351.htm?source=rsschannel=miamiherald_home Regards, VB ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] Warm Growing miltonias hybrids help needed
Good day to all on the list I am looking for a website (or perhaps a book or article) where one would be able to identify warm growing Brazilian miltonia hybrids. We have a large number of these plants flowering at the moment, but over the years labels have been mislaid and some of these plants have no labels at all. Can anyone help or point me to a website or book that can? Regards from a hot and sunny Durban Hendrik Venter Durban Botanic Gardens___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] KATHY and Gods
To answer your question, if a God had to be replaced it must have been an AOS judge who died. Jean Allen Ikeson and I have been friends in orchids for many years. I have come to know Jean as a wonderful person, who always made rational decisions when she lived nearby. Of course you did not know that Kathy, you make a lot of comments on that which you are in the dark about. A few years ago Jean decided to move to Nova Scotia, a long distance from here; yet we have maintained contact with each other and only one month ago my entire orchid collection was practically donated to her orchid society. Jean also became a student AOS judge. When I read her long post over what I consider a simple fact that is a positive consequence of AOS judging I disagreed with her. Which, by the way, is allowed among friends and on the OGD. When I saw her sign off with Jean Allen-Ikeson who is fuming in Nova Scotia, Canada the fuming part bothered me, for such is not normal for rational Jean. Could it be that teachers in the AOS judging program impress upon their students that AOS judges are Gods in the orchid world? I do not know, truly. Thank God that most AOS judges I know are not like that.. I told her to stop the fuming. This non issue is just not worth getting excited about. Finally Kathy, you may think you are smart, but valium is not going to solve your thinking impairment, you have to get the knots out of your AOS under garments to restore blood circulation. peter___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] Paph stolons
In the course of repotting some recently acquired Paphiopedilum plants some unresolved questions regarding their structures has once again occurred to me. At the risk of antagonizing the existing blood feuds that are apparent on this forum, I would like to share my observations in the hope that I might be further enlightened on this subject. Growers of Paphiopedilums armeniacum and micranthum will acknowledge that they reproduce themselves by sending out stolons, which eventually produce plantlets at some distance from the mother plant. The literature usually presents this characteristic as unique (though not universal) in section Parvisepalum. In the course of repotting I have noticed the presence of what appear to be stolons on several Paphs outside of this section, yet I find no mention of this in discussions about these species. Perhaps I am not consulting the proper literature. The species in question are P. callosum, P. volunteanum, and P. dayanum. There may well be other species exhibiting this characteristic. Since these three species are placed in sections other than Parvisepalum, I wonder if the presence of stolons is far more widespread than is usually noted. The stolons apparent in these species differ from those in section Parvisepalum in that they seem to grow vertically rather than horizontally, as in the case of P. armeniacum and P. micranthum. Moreover, the stolons seem to be far more prominent in divisions of mature plants, and less so (or even absent) in young plants, while stolons seem to be present in plants of all ages of the aforementioned Parvisepalums. These observations lead me to several questions regarding the development of stolons in these species. Is this characteristic present in a wide variety of Paphiopedilums or perhaps limited to certain sections or species? Do stolons appear as a result of cultivation in captivity (i.e., some form of environmental adaptation) or are they present on plants observed in their habitat? In general, how are stolons differentiated from the rhizome and the stem? Should I just adjust my medication in the hope that such delusions might fade? Thanks Rick Barry ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
