[update] Trouble seeing the photos in this post? Try
this link to my Google Photos album. [/update]
In terms of hybridization, here are two different goals...
1. Create a better reed-stem Epidendrum
2. Create something better than a reed-stem Epidendrum
As I've already mentioned a few times, the common
reed-stem Epidendrums grow easily from seed... no flasking required! Reed-stems usually aren't the most exciting orchids though. So I've been really interested to learn whether
their crosses with more exciting orchids can also easily grow from seed. Quite a few such crosses have been made but most of them really aren't easy to find.
I've managed to find a few and recently added a couple more to my collection thanks to Fred Clarke of
Sunset Valley Orchids. Here's my haul from a recent visit...
- Brassocatanthe Booth Lee (Bc. Maikai 'Lea' AM/AOS x Lc. Jalapa 'Florence Lin' AM/AOS)
- Cattleya Button Top (Cattleya Angelwalker x lundii)
- Epidendrum Little Miss Sunshine (Epi magnoliae 'SVO' x Epi xanthinum f. compactum 'Resplendens' CBR/AOS)
- Epidendrum Red Mini x self
- Epidendrum xanthinum f. compactum (keiki)
- Epidendrum Yellow Magnolia (best one, keiki)
- Kirchara Georgie (Cattlianthe Golden Wax x Epidendrum O'Brienianum)
Epi Yellow Magnolia and Epi Little Miss Sunshine are both crosses with Epi magnoliae (Northernmost occurring epiphytic orchid in the US). In both cases the reed parent is dominant. Here's a pic of Epi Little Miss Sunshine and Epidendrum Red Mini...
Epidendrum Red Mini is on the left. I've never seen a reed-stem blooming so small. I wonder how old it is?
Kirchara Georgie is another cross between a reed and a non-reed. Here's a picture of the main plant...
Here's a close-up of the flowers...
In this case it really doesn't seem like the reed was very dominant in the cross. For reference, here's a not-so-great pic of what I'm guessing is Epidendrum Obrienianum...
It is
really leggy even though it's in nearly full sun.
I'd say that Epi Red Mini is a better reed-stem Epidendrum while Kir Georgie is better than a reed-stem Epidendrum.
The big question is whether Georgie can grow as easily from seed as Obrienianum.
My division of Georgie isn't in flower but it's blooming size with a small new shoot. For most orchids outside in Southern California it's not the best time of year to have a new shoot. They aren't going to have adequate heat for the shoot to mature. It wouldn't be an issue for Obrienianum but I'm not sure about Georgie. Just because it's superficially better than Obrienianum really doesn't mean that it's substantially better. Time will tell.
I haven't had much luck pollinating Obrienianum with pollen from non-reeds. I'm guessing that they were too distantly related so I decided to get some orchids that are hopefully more closely related...
The first is from eBay (
phuan45) and the rest are from
SLO Nursery.
1. Dimerandra stenopetala
2. Epi pseudepidendrum x polyanthum
3. Epicattleya Rene Marques x Epi mirabile
4. Epicattleya Rene Marques 'Flamethrower' x Epi ilense
5. Epi nocturnum x pseudepidendrum
The form of the last one is rather surprising. Its leaves are narrower than its parents and it has less of them. If I didn't know better I'd have guessed that it was a cross between Brassavola and pseudepidendrum. Rudy made the cross himself though. He agreed that the plant's form is unexpected.
Hopefully the pollen from these orchids will be acceptable to Obrienianum.
Around a year ago I helped my neighbor repot his NOID reed-stem. Not too long ago it started blooming...
Here's a close up of the flowers...
Some of the flowers are wilted because I tried pollinating them with pollen from Psychilis macconnelliae, Psychilis krugii x Broughtonia lindenii and Broughtonia sanguinea. It might be my imagination, or wishful thinking, but this reed-stem seems to be more responsive to the pollen. The relatively fast ovary swelling makes me cautiously optimistic that it's more compatible with non-reeds than my Epidendrum Obrienianum.
If I counted correctly there are three other spikes in various stages of development. So I should be able to continue trying to pollinate this reed-stem into early winter...
Quote:
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An ovule is successfully fertilized by only one pollen grain out of (potentially) many thousands. If fertilization is performed at a sufficiently low temperature, the growth of chilling-resistant genotypes of pollen will be favored over others. These will reach the ovule first so that their genes will appear in the resulting seed. At no other stage of development can selection be made on such large numbers of genotypes. - Brian D. Patterson and Michael S. Reid, Genetic and Environmental Influences on the Expression of Chilling Injury
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During Fall and Spring there are substantial fluctuations in temps. One day it's warm the next it's cool. So in theory now is a good time to pollinate outdoor orchids because you'll be selecting the individuals that grow in a wide range of temps (hercuthermal).
So what do you think? Am I barking up the wrong tree?
Personally, I think that it would be immensely beneficial for the orchid hobby if there were some really nice orchids that could easily grow from seed. More people would participate in the hybridization/selection process which would result in even more really nice orchids that could easily grow from seed. It would be a virtuous cycle.
Let me know if you have trouble viewing the photos. I'm being lazy and linking directly from my Google Photos rather than downloading them and uploading them to my Flickr.
Better Than A Reed-Stem Epidendrum?
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