orchid genus abbreviations

[b amateur]

I found this site on line,thought it might be useful. Orchid Genus Names My printer spit out 23 pages of reference. Brad

[trdyl]

I used to use that one until the RHS published a newer list as of 31 Dec 07. Now even that one is out of date due to the recent genus swaps. Here is the link to it. It is listed under Downloads.

Royal Horticultural Society - Plants: Orchids

[camille1585]

Me too, I use the RHS one. But since it's already outdated I use Orchidwiz for everything, as it's the most up to date on such things.

[b amateur]

Thanks for the update.Looks like I can't put off getting hooked up with the wiz any longer... "if ever there was a wiz there was,the wizard of chids is one because" or something to that affect. Brad

[Brenda Aarts]

Originally Posted by b amateur

Looks like I can't put off getting hooked up with the wiz any longer...

Brad, I think you will love owiz...I'm definately getting my $'s worth out of it, I'm in there fussing around almost daily. To me for the information and pictures available, the program is well worth the cost. Only my .

[V_coerulea]

I love my OrchidWiz for a lot of things. It's even better now with the last update (6.01). But it doesn't include a lot of obscure species Genera. I'm combining several lists to come out with "THE" list (if I may be so bold) containing the name, abb, composition, preferred name or synonym, and comparable name (Sanders). Many genera are also being "eliminated" with the restructuring of the Laeliaceae. For example almost everything with Sophonitis as a component is now defunct and new genera have been created to handle the problem. As a result many of our plants have had their names shifted to a new, foreign genus. Several lists would be important I think such a list of the new genera (to help learn the new names, abbreviations and their compositions), a list of what new genera take the place of what old genera, and a list of what genera are now out of date. The old system of naming by the components (eg Brassolaeliocattleya) was easy to learn the component genera but was getting too unwieldy with the more complicated the crosses became. Can you name the combination Bro x C x Cau x Gur x L x Rl ? It's Dodara. Hard to remember but easier than Rhyncholaeliogurcauthbrocattleya.
I'm not a name freak (I haven't changed the tags on any of my plants yet - a monumental task for 3000 plants) but this taxonomical blast will take many of us years to learn and overcome. The sooner we get started and the more help we have in doing it, the easier the transition will be. We don't need to tackle it all at once. Start with your most prized plants and learn thier new names. If you're a Paph phreak you can sit back and grin. Most Phal lovers can relax. Oncidium lovers are still reeling from the blast they received in reorganizing the oncidiums several years ago. This is the coup d'etat for many orchid lovers and most have at least a few catt relatives. The massive change is due to the extensive interbreeding and re-interbreeding of the Laelia, Cattleya, Encyclia, Epidendrum, Rhyncholaelia and various other genera and all named based on visual characteristics. Enter DNA. Now we can see who is really related to whom. Vanda reorganization has been happening at a slower rate due to less popularity of its intergeneric hybrids compared to say the Oncidium Intergenerics or the Cattleya Intergenerics. So let's get started.

[V_coerulea]

By the way, I combined the list Brad referred to at the beginning with OrchidWiz and RHS and came out with a 73 page behemoth. Nobodys got everything. I'm sure my 73 pages is missing something. But it's got more than I'll ever need. Probably OW alone has more than I'll ever need. And in my opinion, it is an excellent program covering most everything all of us will ever need.

[cirillonb]

I too enjoy OrchidWiz but it certainly has some annoying quirks compared to the "usual" way that databases work. Some are down right annoying. I guess the thing a new user will notice first is the way it handles misspelling on the genus but there are others than now have even permeated the new My Orchid Journal.(the date search is an example)
Oh well.
It is still a great resource and I would recommend it highly
Nick