Prem, I can sympathise with Guido. I, too, get inundated with requests to help identify this or that species depicted in an out-of-focus photo that shows a small blob in the middle of someone's backyard, all this without any idea of scale, etc. It is hard staying polite, sometimes.
The details of what Guido didn't say are:- a) log-on to IPNI at: http://www.us.ipni.org/searches/query_ipni.shtml Type in the plant names you want to query, hit "return", and make a note of the journals that carry the original descriptions. You'll need the basionym journals, not the publication details of any subsequent re-arrangements. b) Go to your nearest decent university or Bot Gardens library, take the journals off their shelves, and start reading. If you minored in Botany, then I'm sure you know how to do basic research. Alternatively, if you still don't want to do the work yourself, phone the biologist/field botanist you mentioned at the local university, and ask him to photocopy the original descriptions & fax or e-mail them to you. I was impressed by the quality of your photos, but I do think the addition of a scale would make the images more useful for identification purposes. I use stick-on 15 cm rulers. I'm also puzzled how you guarantee true-colour, when you've got light sources of mixed colour temperature. Cheers, Peter O'Byrne A fellow unwashed dabbler in Singapore _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids
