What in the World is a Grex?

[emmajs243]

Ok guys I will apologize in advance, I have a few more technical or factual type of questions I will be posting that I just cant seem to wrap my head around....So apologies for the multiple posts AND for my confusion in advance!

What in the world is a grex? Like I have read the definitions and online explanations and i don't know what I am missing but I just sit there still dumbfounded as if someone just gave me the answer in Chinese. I am clueless and I see it online when shopping for orchids and just avoid it because I don't know what it means!

Please help! I tried searching because I am sure this question has already been asked but I got like TONS of results and finally got sick of going through page after page of irrelevant posts!

Can somebody just break this down for me?

[Orchid Whisperer]

A grex is the hybridization cross between two specific species or hybrids.

For example, any hybridization breeding the two parents Cattlianthe Kauai Starbright × Cattlianthe Chocolate Drop will always form the grex Cattlianthe Golden Wax.

[emmajs243]

Thanks orchid whisperer!!

So, it's just all orchids that come from the same two "parents" and are hybrid?....or species....Wouldn't that technically make every orchid a grex of some sort or another or am I missing something??

[Subrosa]

Originally Posted by emmajs243

Thanks orchid whisperer!!

So, it's just all orchids that come from the same two "parents" and are hybrid?....or species....Wouldn't that technically make every orchid a grex of some sort or another or am I missing something??

Only the hybrids are in grexes. The species are in species.

[Keithj]

And just to complicate matters, you get a different hybrid from the same parents depending on which is the pollen donor.

Keith

[MrHappyRotter]

Originally Posted by Keithj

And just to complicate matters, you get a different hybrid from the same parents depending on which is the pollen donor.

Keith

From a biological standpoint, the pod parent (the one that gets fertilized and produces the seed pod) carries a bit more influence over the offspring/hybrid than the pollen parent. I believe at least some of this effect comes from mitochondrial dna which organisms get from their "maternal" parent.

But for naming & registration purposes, the hybrid name is the same regardless of which parent is used as the pod parent and which is used as the pollen parent.

For instance..

Phrag. besseae x Phrag. longifolium = Phrag. Eric Young
Phrag. longifolium x Phrag. besseae = Phrag. Eric Young

[Ray]

Nomenclature

[emmajs243]

Thanks you SO much guys! This was just so confusing for me until now! So one follow up, why when your orchid shopping will some have a "grex" label and other hybrids don't? I mean all the hybrids are obviously in a grex of some sort or another but only some have grex labeled somewhere in their name. Is this just for hybrids that are in a more renowned grex so buyers can make that connection?

Subrosa, I totally was just reading orchid whisperers explanation wrong and it clicked once you chimed in so thank you for that!!

After reading Keith's post I was just thinking, "I know I've seen orchids crossed 'AxB' and again 'BxA'" and I always wonder, what's the difference? Which one do I choose? One parent has to be more dominant right? And then MrHappyRotter jumped in and gave me the answer! Perfect timing and SO much appreciated!

And Ray! This is EXACTLY what I needed! This is how my brain works. The EXACT way you have it broken down on your website is exactly how I have to set up a concept I haven't been able to completely grasp for it to click! That is just SO perfect! Thank you! I just don't know how I missed it! I have read SO much from your cite! I've been working through your presentation topics and any articles linked to those! Like your growth Stimulant experiments! So educational, awesome and fun to read! I just wish I was in the position to carry out big experiments like that!

Thanks again everyone who has chimed in! This has helped so much!

[Fairorchids]

Emma,

As long as the new hybrid (A x B or B x A) has not had a name registered with the RHS in England, it is an 'unnamed Grex', identified by the two parent plants.

Once a new name has been registered, it should be identified with the new name. However, many nurseries never get around to do this, so you will see a lot of plants sold with just the two parent names on the label.

There are several orchid databases available:
OrchidWiz is the best in my opinion
Orchids+ from the AOS is OK.

If you don't want to spend money on either just yet, the RHS has a free database, but it is not very good.

The International Orchid Register / RHS Gardening

If a new grex is registered as B x A, and you enter A x B in a query, you get no result. You need to try B x A also.

And, if there is a single spelling mistake, it won't give you a result. You might have to check the name of each parent to get the accepted spelling in the RHS database.

This is in particular prevalent in the Cattleya group, where many genera have been changed (most Laeliocattleya (= Lc.) are now straight Cattleya, etc.).

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by MrHappyRotter

But for naming & registration purposes, the hybrid name is the same regardless of which parent is used as the pod parent and which is used as the pollen parent.

Is there a convention where the pod parent can easily be identified from a cross? Eg. a convention like AAA x BBB, where the name that comes first (eg. AAA) is the pod parent?

I'm thinking there's probably none, because it's too late these days to have such a convention --- due to legacy issues ----- since this kind of convention would have needed to start right from the beginning.