4 x YAP...

[camille1585]

Petals = the lip (which is a highly modified petal) as well as the segments at 10 and 2 o' clock.
Sepals= the 2 lower ones and top one that are inplanted on the outside of the bloom.

In the case of Phals and many other orchids/flowers, the proper name of the sepals is actually tepals. Tepals = sepals that look like petals (other examples include tulips, lilies,...)

True sepals look like little green leaves, and they cover the outside of an unopened flower. Think of a rose for instance.

I hope that I didn't confuse you any futher!

[The Mutant]

Nonono, that didn't confuse me at all!

Let's see now; tepals (or sepals) are the three "behind" the lip and the two petals. The petals are the ones that go bananas at times and then the Phal (or orchid in general maybe?) is referred to as a peloric chid?

Did I get it right, oh Master of Phalaenopsis Lore?

[Discus]

Uncertain death is OK. Certain death, well, you'd have to step in and do something.

Peloric orchids are ones where other flower parts (most commonly petals) look like the lips.

And yes you have it right, the 3 tepals are at the back, with two petals and the lip at the front.

[The Mutant]

YES! I've now acquired more "useless" information that I'll never be able to use in a normal day-to-day conversation!


But it's important to me to know what it's called instead of saying, "Oh, the thingies in front of the other three y'know".

Uncertain death is probably even worse since you have no idea how to act during those occasions! I did what I had to do; I saved those poor phals (or at least that's what I'll tell myself when it's time to pay my bills ).

[Discus]

LOL

I collect "useless info". It comes in really handy in pub quizzes and making people think you're far too bloody clever.

Sadly, I have to find it interesting to remember it, which precludes vast swaths of human activity, particularly those parts that include grown adults chasing balls around, with or without the involvement of sticks. This costs one dear in pub quizzes. :/

[camille1585]

I have a friend who also collects 'useless' info, but he remembers everything!! His brain is like a giant sponge. The guy is a walking, talking wikipedia. He knows the most obscure, random and truely utterly useless facts. And of course he was very very good at pub quizzes.
As for me.... well, to say that my memory is extremely poor is an understatement. :blush:

[Discus]

My favourite childhood activity? Reading "Fact Books"...

[camille1585]

That's funny, me too! Except that if I reread a book a year later, I wouldn't have remembered any of it.... Even now I still read those types of things, like Bill Bryson's " A short history of nearly everything". That's my favorite.

[Phal grower]

I used to read my parents encyclopedia and I was always drawn to the tropical rainforest section. Very interesting.

[Discus]

Originally Posted by camille1585

Bill Bryson's " A short history of nearly everything". That's my favorite.

There are a couple of mistakes in that book that I've picked up - there is one known Dodo egg (in the East London museum) and there was something about the coelacanth in there that was also wrong, but I can't recall the passage off hand.