Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Cattleyas - Some common terms explained!

I am writing this 'glossary' because I have found buying cattleyas to be abit of a minefield.A typical example is NFS. Firstly NFS means 'near flowering size'. Secondly 'near flowering size' can mean to flower in anywhere between 1 month to 5 years! If you are buying a NFS, ask what kind of cattleya it is expected to be (miniature, compact or standard) and then ask how tall is the plant you are buying. This is about as best a description you can reasonably get considering only you can answer how well you are going to be able to grow your cattleya.A very well grown, vigorous mericlone standard cattleya could quite easily reach flowering size in just short of 3 years from coming out of the flask. A very well grown, vigorous mericlone miniature cattleya would also take 3 years, and if you bought it as 'near flowering size' of 15cm, do not despair! You would be well on track and probably got a good deal compared to someone who got a 20cm standard cattleya.I hope I am starting to make an impression why some standardisation in the hobby is probably required. Please find below some common terms and definitions. If you find any mistakes, pleasecontact me pointing them out. If there are others you feel justify addition, please feel free to contact me pointing them out too!To really confuse things, I thought I should start the glossary with AWARDSAwardsAwarding SocietiesAOC Australian Orchid CouncilAOS American Orchid SocietyHOS Honolulu Orchid Society JOS Japan Orchid Growers Society JOGA Japan Orchid Growers AssociationOSROC Orchid Society Republic of ChinaRHS Royal Horticultural SocietyTOS Thailand Orchid SocietyWOC World Orchid Congress (preceded by the number of the congress)Award typesFCC - First Class Certificate - awarded to a species or hybrid that scores 90 points or more.AM - Award of Merit - awarded to a species or hybrid that scores 80 - 89 points.HCC - Highly Commended Certificate - awarded to species or hybrid that scores 75-79 points.These three are the more common awards you will see specifically for flower quality, point rating based on 100 possible points. Because these are not specifically judged against the skill of the grower - look for these in mericlones! ACC - Award of Cultural Commendation awarded for a plant that "exhibits excellence of culture"CCM - Certificate of Cultural MeritCCE - Certificate of Cultural ExcellenceThese are for the full plant, denoting the grower's skill in growing (and flowering) a plant to big beastly size and in pristine condition.AD - Award of Distinction "awarded for some feature outstandingly distinctive" (something distinctive can be anything really - black? glows in the dark? etc.) CBM - Certificate of Botanical Merit CBR - Certificate of Botanical Recognition awarded to cultivars of species or natural hybrids deemed worthy of recognition for their rarity, novelty or educational value.CHM - Certificate of Horticultural Merit Awarded to species with obvious horticultural value when they appear in cultivation.GM Gold Medal SM Silver Medal BM Bronze MedalThese ones you often see in conjunction with the award society JOGA (Japan Orchid Growers Association)Clone The vegetative propagation of an individual plant, produced through such methods as Division, Meristem propagation, Keiki, stem propagation, etc. Individuals will be genetically identical.Compact Compact in size. When applied to cattleyas, meaning flowering plants are normally between 15cm to 30cm tall.Floriferousness The degree of flower-bearing in relation to the typical.Grex A term used to refer to the group of progeny derived from a specific cross. A good example is Blc. Chunyeah. Chunyeah is the Grex. Beyond this, there are many cultivars in the grex that are very popular (Good Life No. 1, Tzeng-Wen, No. 17 etc.)Inflorescence The portion of the plant devoted to and including the flowers.Labellum Part of an orchid flower which serves to attract insects that will pollinate the flower. The labellum is a modified petal and can be distinguished from the other petals and from the sepals by its large size and its often irregular shape. It is not unusual for the other two petals of an orchid flower to look like the sepals, so that the labellum stands out as distinct. In the picture below, the labellum (or lip) is yellow where the other petals and sepals are orange.Also see Lip.Lip A modified petal which has evolved to attract pollinators; it also acts as a landing platform for insects during pollination.Also see Labellum.Mericlone A plant derived from tissue culture that is identical to its parent.Miniature Miniature in size. When applied to cattleyas, meaning flowering plants are normally less than 20cm tall (see example of plant in a tea cup).NFSNear Flowering SizePeloric A term used to describe an unusual condition where all three petals (instead of just one) have developed to mimic the labellum in shape and/or colour. If you look at the pictures below, you will seefine examples ofpeloric cattleyas.Coined by Darwin to describe a mutant flower that has many planes of reflectional symmetry.Petal The whorl of flower parts just inside the sepals, usually colorful. The median petal of orchids, the labellum, is often differentiated in form and/or function. In the below example, the petals are yellow edged in orange with purple on the tip where the lip is mostly yellow with purple on the edge.Pseudobulb Thickened or bulb-like stems produced by some sympodial orchids to store water and food. Most often topped with one or two leaves. Characteristic of orchids whose habitat has seasonal periods of dryness or drought.Sepal The outermost whorl of flower parts. In the below picture the sepals are yellow, thelip and petals are edged with red.Sheath A modified leaf that encloses and protects an emerging inflorescence or leaf. Normally dries and sloughs off, when Inflorescence or leaf matures. Standard Standard in size. When applied to cattleyas, meaning flowering plants are normally greater then 25cm tall.

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