Colin Hamilton wrote:
> (By the way, the range of
> Dendrobium bigibbum is nowhere near the town of Cooktown. That is
> the province of Dendrobium phalaenopsis. Confused? )
Yep. I thought D. bigibbum and D. phalaenopsis were synonymous. What's the
difference?
Nick
Hi all Listers,
I first learned about these from Holtumn's Orchids Of Malaysia. Can't
put my hand on the book right now but it is an old one. He described Den.
phalaenopsis as having a pointed lip and bigibbum as having the wider midlobe
with a notch at the center. He considered the Cooktown orchid to be Den.
phalaenopsis and shows a nice black and white picture.
Over the years I have noticed that a lot of people don't seem to make
much difference between these two lips and will mix up the names. But they are
very distinct in shape although they surely must have been interbred together
over the years. Den. Orchidwood is the official name of the two crossed. Most
of our beautiful big AOS awarded Den. phal hybrids of the past had the
bigibbum lip, some of them very exaggerated through selective breeding by
people like Paul Bibus of Florida. They were very sensitive to benlate so you
don't see them anymore, most died around '90. Den Thailand is similar (Hickem
Deb is one parent) that has been available, but not nearly so rich in color
and substance. These are all derived from Hawaiin bred Den. Hickem Deb way in
the background. I always hope some new ones will show up that are as good as
we used to see in the '80s.
Another name that shows up in the pedigrees is Den. schroderianum . I
am really not certain what this is called today (help here please Colin) but
we used to be told it was probably a tetraploid form of either bigibbum or
phalaenopsis.
It is a parent of both Den. Louis Bleriot and Den. Sander's Crimson behind all
of these famous hybrids. They are wonderful and my most favorite of all
orchids. One of my first plants was a Den. phal. that won a cultural award
from the South Florida Orchid Society years ago.
Good growing to all,
Mary Lou/Miami
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