Quote:
Originally Posted by got ants
Wow! This one is exceptional too! Isn't this what they call var fimbripetala?
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Ok, so I never knew this variety name existed until a little while ago, so I did some quick reading up on this. As it stands, this variety is now a synonym of Rhyncholaelia
digbyana. The thing that confused me is that on the one site that I saw a Rhyncholaelia
digbyana v. fimbripetala for sale, it was described as the rare form of Rl.
digbyana, with a fimbriate (frilly) lip. I say this confused me because as we all know, Rl.
digbyana is the Rhyncholaelia with the frilly lip, and the only other Rl., Rl.
gluaca, looks identical to
digbyana other than the absence of frills. What confuses me even more is that all three of the synonyms that use the
var. fimbripetala are from descriptions that were made long after the earliest description, which was by Lindley in 1846. To me, the only way this would make any logical sense would be if the only species was Rl.
digbyana, with the standard form really being Rl.
gluaca, and the
v. fimbripetala being Rl.
digbyana. This of course, makes no sense, as these two species have always been described as separate species. So, the way I see it, they gave a variety name to the normal species. I don't know if there is some slight difference that is supposed to set them apart, but from the picture that I saw, it appears to be your regular Rl.
digbyana. To me I think they did the same thing as describing B.
nodosa as B.
nodosa v. alba, which is pretty redundant being that the only colour B.
nodosa ever has is a few purple spots deep in the throat. Sorry for the long explanation, which would have been satisfied with a "no, it's a synonym," but I thought it was an interesting topic!
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