Thanks Pankaj for this excellent and detailed response exploring all the subtle nuances of this topic.
Learned a lot from it. I am sure Usha di did too. :-) PS: I have slightly edited your response below. :-) On Wed, Jan 18, 2012 at 7:25 AM, Dr Pankaj Kumar <sahanipan...@gmail.com>wrote: > Respected Mam > > > 1. When you say “serendipity” and “totally natural”, to me no village > in or outside a forest is natural but man made and most of the plants > found in the village are likely not to be original but surely some of > them can be natural if they are tribals. Eicchornia is exotic but > found in all corners of India. > > 2. In your second post, you clearly said, “my sister remembers these > in south 24 paraganas on mango trees”. Then in next post you wrote, “I > did not say this was south 24 paraganas, did I ?”. My answer was very > simple, “I cant imagine this to be in South of 24 Parganas.”. > > 3. My PhD work was in Chhotanagpur (Jharkhand) but I did went to parts > of Jhargram, Purulia, Bordering areas in Sultanganj and Santhal > parganas. No I didn’t drive to Sonarpur and that entire stretch to > Mullickpur. I didn’t have to. West Bengal is well documented area and > the climate doesn’t match much to Jharkhand to solve my purpose. On > the other side, I did go much deep in Orissa and Chattisgarh. > > 4. You saw it in Kolkata in Elliot park (AGAIN A GARDEN) and some one > stole it next time. I imagine how long it was there and how it managed > for so long without being getting stolen. There are many gardeners in > and around Kolkata and most of the plants in the nearby states and > till Uttarakhand goes from Kolkata as it is directly connected by road > and rail. Dendrobium aphyllum is one of the plants they usually > extract from further Northeastern part and sell illegally. This plant > flowers very well and and set fruits too and its not unlikely that the > plant could have escaped from the garden into the city. > > 5. Your Bimal da wrote to you that he again has it in his GARDEN!! > > 6. > > 7. Rakesh Biswas’s orchid link is obviously not like your because its > Dendrobium microbulbon and yours is Dendrobium aphyllum. Again Oikos > write it as common orchid, but my knowledge says its very rare. > > 8. The list of synonyms was for you because even in your third pic, > you labeled the file as Dendrobium peirardii. > > 9. I am not a painter or photographer and you don’t have to be an > artist yourself to criticize other’s art. When I was in school may be > in 10th standard I came across this Monalisa painting replica. One of > my german friends had been to Paris and she sent me a small copy of > the painting that was sold somewhere nearby. I saw the painting and my > reaction was, “oh, this is so ugly and offcourse a bad painting”. I > went to my dad’s office library and they have a section of books on > paintings. I took out Vinci’s book and checked all his painting > (whatever I can) but I found other paintings to be much better than > this. I really couldn’t make out why I found it ugly at that time. In > around two weeks I realized the reason, “the girl doesn’t have > eyebrows!!”. > > 10. It doesn’t matter what camera you use when you take plant pics. > What matters is the angle. Your pic on the whole is not bad, but > botanically if I cant see the labellum properly then I would say its > useless. > > 11. Your third plant is again inside one GARDEN, so likely not to be > wild one. I didn’t miss your point there, but I cant see the river > Ganges in the pic. I liked the pic botanically, because I can clearly > identify the plant from that pic. > > 12. Finally there are many orchids which look similar to Dendrobium > aphyllum from lower side, some of them are, > Dendrobium anosmum, > http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3205/2337606070_7582c8b9ab.jpg > some varieties of Dendrobium nobile > > http://www.log-on.org.uk/Pictures/Species/Photos/Dendrobium%20nobile%20var.%20virginalis.JPG > Dendrobium primulinum > http://flo.com.ua/forum/download/file.php?id=50717 > > 13.People call me plant taxonomist, plant ecologist, orchid expert > etc. But I always prefer to be called Plant Explorer. Because I love > exploring plants. Exploring in wild and in library and museums as > well. I never considered myself as an expert or taxonomist or > ecologist. I have seen much better people in life and I dont find me > standing anywhere near to them. > > Then this plant shows lot of variation too. At the same time its > taxonomy has been very enigmatic. Some people are not willing to > believe that this is aphyllum. Some say Dendrobium cucullatum, others > say peirardii is different, some keep them as synonyms. But the latest > thing is this is considered as Dendrobium aphyllum. Trust me, for > selfless members of efloraofindia, its not simple to identify plants > from bad, low resolution pics but we put in a lot of effort to assign > a name to a plant and it take a lot of time for us to confirm the > name. People come here for easy identification because its easy for > them, but not for those who identify the pics. > > My point is, to my knowledge this cant occur in wild in Kolkata or any > Mullickpur etc. But as you said, I didn’t drive to Mullickpur, so I > cant say. > After spending nearly one hour of my busy office schedule, I don’t > want to write further on this thread. Its already too long. > > Regards > Pankaj > > > > > > > > > > On Jan 18, 1:51 am, ushadi Micromini <microminipho...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > Rakesh: isn't scientific inquiry a never ending maze ? > > and wonderful, wonderous and exhilaerating? > > > > lets see what Pankaj comes up with ... > > > > am always willing to either learn and change views, make new memories > > > > or write up new data... > > usha di > > ========= > > > > usha di > > > > On Tue, Jan 17, 2012 at 7:26 PM, Rakesh Biswas <rakesh7bis...@gmail.com > >wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > The mystery seems to be deepening. > > > > > :-) > > > > > On Tue, Jan 17, 2012 at 5:25 AM, Pankaj Kumar <sahanipan...@gmail.com > >wrote: > > > > >> Few months back I happened to be speaking at one national orchid > > >> conference in Sikkim. There was someone who did predictive modelling > > >> of Cymbidium in Sikkim. And according to her model, there was chances > > >> of occurence of Cymbidium on Mt. Kanchendzonga. Now to say that she is > > >> wrong, I dont have to go and check on the mountain if the plant > > >> occurred or not. > > >> Occurence in Coochbehar is ok to me for this plant, but in almost > > >> Sunderban delta is strange. I may be wrong though. > > >> Does someone has Bengal Plants by Sir David Prain. I think I would > > >> like to see what he wants to say. As I said, I think it should be > > >> found somewhere in Jalpauguri and Darjeeling on middle elevations. But > > >> in Kolkata and nearby to me sounds very strange. I have not seen any > > >> reference of it. I will ask one of my friend. > > >> Regards > > >> Pankaj > > > > >> On Tue, Jan 17, 2012 at 2:43 AM, Giby Kuriakose > > >> <giby.kuriak...@gmail.com> wrote: > > >> > Nice picture! > > > > >> > Regards > > >> > Giby > > > > >> > On 15 January 2012 22:49, ushadi Micromini < > microminipho...@gmail.com> > > >> > wrote: > > > > >> >> We were on a Sunday afternoon drive when my friends decided to > stop and > > >> >> have some tea... we drove into a village.. and parked under a > kadam > > >> >> tree... while they unpacked the picnic baskets and poured tea > etc I > > >> was > > >> >> walking around and a local gentleman came out to see if what / who > had > > >> >> invaded his property... though there were no boundry indicators > per > > >> se... > > >> >> we apologized, but he turned out to be friendly... and said he just > > >> wanted > > >> >> to talk, so over tea he told us what he grows etc and very proudly > > >> pointed > > >> >> at this flower on his Kadam tree... and he even told us its > name... he > > >> had > > >> >> done some research it seems... Dendrobium pierardii.... I came > home and > > >> >> looked it up... books and the net images show more intense > color... > > >> than > > >> >> I got... and the binomial he told seems to hold ... UNLESS PANKAJ > > >> thinks > > >> >> otherwise.... > > > > >> >> I am very happy to have made a friend across from the Ganges and > he > > >> has > > >> >> invited us back whenever the mood strikes us... > > > > >> >> Serendipity, you ask? why? > > > > >> >> because as we drove out of Calcutta we were hoping to find > something > > >> >> totally created by nature... not planted by forest dept, highway > > >> department > > >> >> or a gardener, nor chopped down or debilitated by humanity... > > >> >> and what is more spontaneous than a beautiful orchid flowering on a > > >> >> beautiful tree with connection to Krishna... the playful one... > > > > >> >> Usha di > > >> >> =========== > > > > >> > -- > > >> > GIBY KURIAKOSE PhD > > >> > Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), > > >> > Royal Enclave, > > >> > Jakkur Post, Srirampura > > >> > Bangalore- 560064 > > >> > India > > >> > Phone -+91 9448714856begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +91 > 9448714856 (Mobile) > > >> > visit my pictures @http://www.flickr.com/photos/giby > > > > >> -- > > >> ********************************************************************** > > >> "Taxonomists getting Extinct and Species Data Deficient !!" > > > > >> Pankaj Kumar Ph.D. (Orchidaceae) > > >> Conservation Officer > > > > >> Office: > > >> Orchid Conservation Section > > >> Flora Conservation Department > > >> Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG) Corporation > > >> Lam Kam Road, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong. > > > > >> Residence: > > >> 36c, Ng Tung Chai, Lam Tseun > > >> Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong. > > > > >> email: pku...@kbfg.org > > >> sahanipan...@gmail.com > > >> pankajsah...@rediffmail.com > > >> Phone:+852 2483 7128begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +852 > 2483 7128 (office - 8:30am to 5:30pm) > > >> +852 9436 > 6251begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +852 9436 6251 (mobile) > > > > -- > > Usha di > > ===========
