Mislabeled or No Labeled orchids are a common problem in the orchid industry. With an estimated 20,000 different species and 100,000 registered hybrids, it is easy to get a case of nomenclature confusion. Tags can be switched or missplaced by buyers in stores who want to see a name or care info, tags can drop off in shipping, and growers can occasionally take a guess on unbloomed plants if a flask of young plants are mixed up.
But no matter how it happened, there are a few ways to solve it- and none of them are certain to work. The first is to check the website of the grower/nursery you bought it from, looking for an online list of plants or even better, pictures. The next step is to take a picture of the blooms, and email the grower and see if they can identify the plant. Most growers specialize in specific types of plants, and have a good idea from plant to plant what it is if they can see a picture of the blooms. If neither of these provide results, or if you do not know the grower of the plant in question, you can post a picture on a site like Orchid Talk, which is a great website for almost any orchid growing question.
I have identified orchids both by emailing and by posting on boards. It is satisfying to identify something in your collection. It can be important to do this becuase care requirements can be so different from orchids to orchids. Some need particular temperatures, light intensity, potting medium and watering schedule-- and some may never bloom without these requirements being met or could even die. This is at the far end, but it is best to know what kind of orchid you are dealing with.
I have emailed the grower with a picture and asked for an indentification. They quickly got back to me, stating that the orchid in question was a Beallara Tahoma Glacier. I now assume the difference in bloom appearance, based on the lack of a cultivar name and their response to my email, is due to this plant being a seed grown orchid. Seed grown orchids can have a different appearance in the final product from seed to seed. I feel better to have the grower back up my initial tagged ID.
Please feel free to share your identification success stories.
Coffee enjoyed during this post: Los Immortales, El Salvador sent to me by a great barista at 9th Street Espresso. (Rating 4.5/5)
3 comments:
Intergeneric hybrids, like Beallara, a non-naturally occurring genus composed of the Brassia x Cochlioda x Miltonia x Odontoglossum, are even harder to identify than species or primary hybrids. Generally tell-tale morphological clues about the plant often get bred out of the equation. The flower physiology becomes the key to identify the orchid, in other words. Yet, in turn, without a proper identification it may prove difficult to get the orchid to bloom in the first place. For this reason, in my opinion, it is a good idea to purchase the orchid in flower so that one is assured to match the proper "care" with the "proper" plant. The draw back is that the initial expense is higher; but, in the long run, the collection of orchids is more established. Critical growing space is not lost to an orchid with questionable origins.
"Yet, in turn, without a proper identification it may prove difficult to get the orchid to bloom in the first place."
Tim, this is the statement I'll take the most from out of your comment. You are right that it can be incredibly difficult to get an orchid to bloom that has No ID or an Improper ID. Orchids certainly have varied care requirements: some require more or less light, some different watering habits, and particular temperature ranges- if you can't meet all of these specifics, some orchids will never bloom.
Just a follow-up here on the blog. I have already shared this information with you but thought I would post it here this morning for the Blog.
I came across an Orchid that resembles this mislabeled plant in an local nursery. I think with some certainty that it is:
Beallara Glacier 'Queen Anne'
The label noted that is from www.KalapanaTropicals.com. I haven't gone to the website yet to verify if I am correct in my identification but feel strongly that I have pegged this one.
Now I have to figure out the likely Odontocidium that bloomed while you were away for Thanksgiving. That is a hard one! Hows knows, however, when I will stumble across it!
Post a Comment