>>How many size classes do you guys have in the States?>>
Determining size has always been a question with Cyms. The AOS (American Orchid Society) does not consider class for point score awards when judging. That said, the majority of shows in the US are AOS sanctioned but it is left up to the show committees to determine classes for Cyms. The terms most common to small shows are Standard denoting flowers with a natural spread (measured petal tip to petal tip on the horizontal and not forced flat) above 3" and Miniature for everything else.
Here in California, the original home of the CSA (Cymbidium Society of America) and the center of Cymbidium growing in the US, most shows use a variation of the CSA award format system, Miniature, Novelty and Standard. Miniatures MUST have one or more miniature species in the first or second generation and MUST be miniature in flower and plant size. Novelties MUST have one or more miniature species in the background but need not show miniature plant size. Most will carry flowers less than 3" natural spread. This CSA division was originally created for the madidum hybrids, which have small flowers but can often have HUGE PLANTS. Standards are everything else but generally over 3" natural spread.
In the 1990s the CSA added a division for Intermediate, which in essence was a small Standard. Most plants given awards during that time carried flowers not only smaller than the normal "dinner plate" Standard but highly colored. It had been eliminated by 2000, but in my opinion, it was a good division and should have been kept.
In most shows in California you will find Standard, a class requiring a natural spread of greater than 3"; Novelty, requiring a natural flower spread less than 3"; and Miniature, with a natural flower spread of less than 1 ½". Oftentimes you will find the Miniature class as a subclass to Novelty, as there are very few true, exhibition quality miniature hybrids shown because of poor form. There is also a class for Species and this is usually divided into Standard and Miniature and with more frequency, Asian. Many shows also provide a Pendulous class, which should be used for truly pendulous hybrids from pendulous species, not Standards that the owner was too lazy to stake up! In general, the larger the show, the more classes set up by the show giving club.
Now, everyone should be really confused!
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