Naming plants in the forum.....

[Dorothy]

To augment Ray's link - Orchid naming for dummies - Orchid Board

[RosieC]

I agree with Sue, the most important thing I look for is the lower case on the species name and the capitalisation of hybrid names. That and the Genus name starting with a capital.

[johnsaquatics]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned about naming orchids is the difference between using a capital X and a lower case x for crosses. When is the upper case used and when is the lower case used?

Thanks!

[slipperfreak]

Originally Posted by johnsaquatics

One thing I haven't seen mentioned about naming orchids is the difference between using a capital X and a lower case x for crosses. When is the upper case used and when is the lower case used?

Thanks!

I believe (and someone correct me if I'm wrong) that a capital X is traditionally used to denote an artificial hybrid, and a lower case one for a natural hybrid. Orchid people are just too lazy to include the X when we list artificial hybrids!

[johnsaquatics]

I think you're right. I just couldn't remember which was which, a confirmation from someone else would be great though.

[Country Gramma]

Are "..." ever used? I've seen these on labels I've gotten from vendors.

Thanks, Karen

[slipperfreak]

Originally Posted by Country Gramma

Are "..." ever used? I've seen these on labels I've gotten from vendors.

Thanks, Karen

Hmmm... I've never seen that before. Can you provide an example?

[Beckster]

I've really been trying to figure the proper grammar out lately, but I'm still confused about a few scenarios. I don't have many orchids, but the hybrid names seem to confuse me the most (I get the basic Genus / species naming). These are the examples in my collection I'm having trouble with:

Dendrobium Emma White - Is "Emma White" the hybrid name or cultivar? And if it's the cultivar, why isn't the hybrid name listed? Only the cultivar should be listed in single quotes, right? Is that the only way to tell the difference?

Miltassia Charles M. Fitch - Same as above question.

Blc Pokai Tangerine x Chocolate Sun - Blc is the species (Brassolaeliocattleya), but has this one not been registered yet as a hybrid and named? I'm assuming that "Pokai Tangerine" and "Chocolate Sun" are hybrid names of the orchids that this one has been crossed with. And in hybrids, is it just too long to list the species as well as the genera that they originate from? Just the Genera are listed?

Ascocenda Princess Mikasa 'Mood Indigo' - I'm guessing that "Princess Mikasa" is the Hybrid name and "Mood Indigo" is the cultivar (which means that my plant is cloned?)

Paphinia Majestic - I was originally thinking that "majestic" was the species, but then I heard that this one is a hybrid of Paphinia cristata x Paphinia herrerae, so that would make it the hybrid name right?

Okay, I think that's it for now. Thanks for listening! I'm barely starting to wrap my head around this...

Becky

[Country Gramma]

Oh Goodness,

My bad!!! They were typing errors on my orchid list. When I went and checked on the labels they were all in single quotes.

Sorry for the confusion, Karen

[cb977]

Sometimes the labels have the incorrect punctuation or even incorrect spellings