Topic of conversation (x-posted rgo/abpo)

Me too. But there's no substitute for a good library. Dave Gillingham sent me articles on Den speciosum that gave me great information on the varieties for this species and its habitat range. Now I know what to look for if I ever decide to buy one of these expensive orchids.

There are times I hate waiting for the computer and the different programs to boot up in order to access information. Sometimes its easier to look it up in an index or a book like Cribb's checklist to Madagascar species.

Usually information available online is just the same stuff stolen from each other. But every now and then there's some good stuff available online.

K Barrett

Any particular online resources you would like to mention?

Cheers Kye.

Kye,

This is the information that I wish I had (from the point of view of an amateur grower who does not have a greenhouse and has only 45 orchids, this would be the kind of info that I wish I had before buying a new orchid:)

1. picture
2. flower size, number of flowers on average (for example if it is a mini-catt--is it capable of more than one or two flowers per pseudobulb), flowering season and whether it is capable of flowering more than once a year, how long it can be expected to be in flower
3. culture: minimum and maximum light requirements, does it do well in home or is a greenhouse a must, etc.
4. native habitat and growing habits in the wild (if it is a species) and ideally pictures of species in native habitat setting
5. if it is a hybrid ideally information on which species went into this hybrid's genealogy especially if it has very pronounced characteristics that it inherited from a species parent/grandparent plant
6. what would be extra neat would be information/reviews from growers who have successfully grown this plant and their tips on the environment that they grew in (sort of like product reviews at amazon.com)

Best, Joanna

So would things like a pie graph of species parentage components be helpful???

Cheers Kye.

Kye,

I think that might be visually neat, although I don't know how useful/accurate it would be (isn't it already problematic to say how many percent of a certain species a hybrid has, I think I recall some discussion of needing to interpret such data cautiously). And obviously such a pie graph would only be possible for hybrids that only have a handful of species in their parentage.

What I think would be most helpful would be a descriptive paragraph something like this. "This miniature cattleya has inherited the compact growth habit of species x, and the fragrance and flower texture from species y. The presence of species z in its ancestry may account for the lower light levels necessary for this hybrid to thrive." Obviously such a paragraph may be hard to come by for most hybrids, but putting this kind of information where it is known would in my opinion add quite a bit of value.

Best, Joanna