Blue Orchids

[Jorge_Burrito]

No, not sad orchids, but orchids with blue flowers. I have not really seen any except perhaps some Vandas that are more purple blue than blue blue. Anybody have any they can think of? If not, is their a scientific reason? Seems like flowers can be found in just about every other color pretty easily.

P.S. have been a lurker for awhile and just want to thank you all for all the great advice on the board.

[Undergrounder]

There are some really nice blue Phalaenopsis violaceas bred from var. coeruleas, you can see a few of them here:

Phalaenopsis violacea

There are also nice lighter blue Phals bred from D. pulcherrima and P. equestris... you can see them here:

Sapphire Dragon Orchids - Photo Gallery

(actually that has lots of good violaceas as well)

but getting blue without going purple is very hard

[brewmyster]

Morning Star Orchids In South Louisiana has a very large assortment of Blue Catts. Saw a few of them at our Fall show last weekend. You can contact Linda here at OB for info on them. Her and her Husband John are really nice people.

Mark

[sucuz]

Nice pice, but as Jorge said, they tend more to the purple than actual blue. Have seen some vandas with a nice delft blue 'crackle' finish on white. Don't recall ever seeing a real blue on anything else. Could be that, like the 'blue rose' that is actually shades of lavender that there isn't a blue gene to breed to. This may be the case with most orchids--no blue gene to breed to.

Have heard of the genetics people trying to separate a blue gene from lobelias and delphiniums to try to splice into to create a blue flower. Though this is cheating, there is money in coming up with the first flowers in a color that does not otherwise exist. One day we may see a 'frankenblue' orchid or rose.

Ethics of it all...don't even want to go there.

[Chubidubi]

Jorge

I'm personally haven't seen any true blue chids myself. I was actually thinking the same thing the other day .

[JennS]

I have discussed this exact thing with several people, including Jackie (Jckelee). I don't konw what the reason for it is, but everything "blue" in the "plant" world appears more purple than blue to me. Even the V. coerulea...they start off more blueish then turn more purpleish. I never have figured it out, except that it must be more close to blue in the namers eyes then purple?

[kavanaru]

this discussion was also here in OB quite long ago, I think before Christmass 2007, if I recall it correctly...

as far as I can say from my experience, it is also some Vandas (e.g. Magic Blue) the ones that would take place... even though, they are still "purple"

[Jorge_Burrito]

Looks like I am stuck with purple-blue until Frankenblue is made alive (Insert mad scientist laugh here). I will see if I can pick up one of those phals.

So I am assuming the lack of blue flowers is an evolutionary trait...ie blue flowers do not attract as many insects for some reason? Or is it more a chemical trait...ie the color blue is difficult to produce in nature? Something else I am not thinking about? Just for my curiosity, anyone have any input on this?

[greenbean]

True blue is very rare in any plant family. I'm not sure why. I think that perhaps the pigments that plants have developed generally can't produce a good blue. This is probably because blue doesn't attract pollinators as well, so blue hasn't evolved much in plants. I recently saw some pictures online (sorry, I forgot the link, just search for blue orchids on google or something) of one or two Australian orchids that are clear, vivid blue. I am fairly certain that they were really orchids, and not a plant called an orchid, like poor man's orchid. They appeared to have the distinctive column shared by all orchids. Unfortunately, I think these are rare and difficult to cultivate, or they would be seen in trade. Perhaps someone will use them in hybridizing to produce some real show-stoppers!

[camille1585]

The blue gene is very rare in plants, and transfering it in other plants is quite difficult. Scientists having been trying to make blue roses for years, until they succeded in 2004. Inserting the blue gene (in this case using the delphinidin gene from delphiniums or petunias) is not enough. They first had to 'turn off' the gene responsible for red pigment in order to get blue. However the blue is not perfect, because the pH of the petals (more technically, the pH of the vacuoles in the cells) affects colors. If it's too acidic, the color is more purplish. That and other complexities means that biochemically speaking, blue flowers are hard to get, even if the gene is in a plant and being expressed.

The only really blue flower I've seen is Gentiana verna. It's so blue that it seems unbelievable. You can spot it from really far away! (and yes it really is as blue as in the picture!)

I think I read somewhere that a study was done that showed that honeybees can't tell blue and green apart, so from a plant's perspective, why put in the effort to make the complex blue color when the bee can't even see it?? Don't know about other insects. I'm somewhat dubious about this theory though.