Classifying orchids

[Tindomul]

Question, when a hybrid name is similar to a species epithet, does that mean that its a natural hybrid??? Or is that not always the case? thanks.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

It's not always the case.

It really depends on the circumstances of whether it was found in nature and was presumed to be a species, therefore it was given a species-like name or not.

For example, it was thought for the longest time that Phal x intermedia was an actual species. Then it was found that they were actually natural hybrids.

The name Phal intermedia still stuck, but to distinguish it from a species and man-made hybrids, they just stuck the symbol "x" in between the genus name and the species name.



Then I think there was a period of time when man-made hybridization occurred and the thing to do was to make the cultivar or grex names sound Latin (I think it had something to do with status, as orchids were and still are a symbol of status).

[Tindomul]

Oh boy. Very convoluted indeed. Thanks.

[bdublyou]

Originally Posted by Tindomul

Kingdom, Division, Class.... etc.
I always tell my students, King Philips Class Out For Good Sex, or King David's Class Out For Good Sex, as a way for them to remember it all.

I always remembered by Keep Pots Clean Or Family Gets Sick

I love mnemonic devices they work so well, but now it looks like I'll have to remember yours Tindomul, for plants, fungi, and some blue-green algae, that is...

[piaffe97]

Wow King, how long have you been growing orchids? Your knowledge is astounding! Is there a book you often refer to, or do you get information online? One more thing, if you don't mind me asking, how many plants do you currently have? I dream of knowing that much about orchids!

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by piaffe97

Wow King, how long have you been growing orchids? Your knowledge is astounding! Is there a book you often refer to, or do you get information online? One more thing, if you don't mind me asking, how many plants do you currently have? I dream of knowing that much about orchids!

Hehehe...

I tell my experience in a different thread, it's in the poll section.

I'll mention it here...

Roughly 18 yrs. Last 7 yrs being the information explosion due to the accessibility and ease of use of the internet and higher diversity of species availability in the trade.

On top of my own frustrating experiences, I also had training with Phals. One of my odd jobs was at a well known orchid nursery here in SoCal. Phals were their pet crop.

After the training, then no longer working at the nursery, I had an epiphany about how to find out about growing Phals and looked things up on my own.

What I learned about Phals in my training coincided with what little scant information I was able to find out about Phals growing in the wild.

There is also some critical thinking involved, and some trial and error. Not everything is always so clear cut, and not everything is quite so simple or even what they seem to be every time.

Not to mention, I took a class in botany.

I still make adjustments to what I know or what I think I know.

I weed out stuff that either doesn't hold up quite well, or stuff that doesn't quite get to the core of things.

It's part of the scientific method. If I find something out, it's gotta withstand scrutiny. There must be evidence to support the claim. It must be able to be replicated.

I view this hobby as being both a science and an art.


I currently own about 100. I used to own much more than this. I used to own probably something in the order of something around 400 maybe 500.

[Keiki Paste]

Originally Posted by rangiku

Hi Ann,

A great book to begin with is William Cullina's Understanding Orchids. For a book specific to Phalaenopsis, Steven Frowine's Moth Orchids: The Complete Guide to Phalaenopsis is very nice with lots of color photos.

Your HS biology is rather good. Gleaned from Cullina's book:

Orchids are a family of plants. That family is split into five subfamilies. Three of the subfamilies are split into tribes and those are divided into subtribes. Alliance is another name for subtribe. Subtribes are divided into genera (plural of genus) which are then divided into species. Species can be further divided into varieties (if the differences are minor) or subspecies.

Phals are an orchid genus.

As for writing them out if the plant is a species the convention is to write it out in italics with the genus capitalized and the species in lowercase, e.g. Phalaenopsis equestris. A naturally occurring variety of a species uses non-italicized var. (or v.) in its name. A white equestris with a yellow lip is written as Phalaenopsis equestris var. aurea.

When a human creates a species variation, known as a cultivar, a capitalized non-italicized non-Latin word or words in single quotes is appended to the end of the species name. For example Phalaenopsis equestris 'Riverbend'.


When humans create a hybrid (a cross with two species is called a primary hybrid; a cross with multiple species is a complex hybrid), the breeder can give it a non-italicized non-Latin name (aka grex) which is capitalized. For example Phalaenopis Tying Shin Cupid. When plants within a hybrid look different, the breeder can denote that by giving them cultivar names, appending a non-italicized non-Latin word or words capitalized in single quotes. For example Phalaenopsis Tying Shin Cupid 'Maria Teresa' or Phalaenopsis Tying Shin Cupid 'Montclair'.

Now that I've thoroughly confused you, take a look at Ray's page on orchid naming here: Orchid Naming

I'm sure those much more knowledgeable than I will chime with more helpful information here.

Hi Rangiku,

I did a search for orchid naming because I had some questions, and this explanation/breakdown is so concise and clear, compared to everything else I've read, that I had to reach out and thank you! I'm going to print this and keep it.

Since your words speak directly to my brain so well, can you help me understand how planes stay in the air? Thanks!

---------- Post added at 02:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:20 PM ----------

I have a Cym Rod Stewart 'Wedding Party' x Cym Stanley Fouracre 'Arcadia'. I also have one other Cymbidium designated as a complex hybrid and named for it's parents.

Am I to understand that someone will register a new name for these plants, with the Royal Horticultural Society, so that they won't forever have such long names?