I would like to learn about the floral structures and how to pollinate A. rhodosticta and A. fastuosa.
I have A. rhodosticta in bloom and two A. fastuosa about to open up.
I would like to cross the two hoping I will get fragrant white flowers with hopefully red orange nose intact.
Wouldn't that be so cute?
The late Gerry Barad of New Jersey broke the path of how to pollinate stapeliads, which have tiny reproductive parts. He used a compound dissecting microscope, a very bright spotlight, tiny tools of his own design, and an armchair with specially-built armrests that extended to his wrists. He had clamps to hold the pots in any orientation necessary to fit under the microscope.
There are people who have learned to do it with a very powerful hand-held lens in the non-dominant hand and the tool in the other, but people with any amount of shaking (more coffee, anybody?) can't manage this.
__________________ May the bridges I've burned light my way.