Do It Yourself Online
Many people regard the registration and nomenclature of orchid hybrids as an esoteric branch of necromancy. Proper labeling actually increases a plant's value, and in the case of one that is inherently superior, it paves the way for a really prestigious award.
For anyone with Internet access, getting the right name for your orchid, or finding its parents when you already have its name, is as close as your computer. The Royal Horticultural Society, which is the official registration authority for orchid hybrids, has virtually the entire database of their registrations on the World Wide Web, at
http://www.rhs.org.uk/research/registration_orchids.asp.
Unlike other flowering plants, individual clones of orchids are not registered. What are registered are the names of grexes, entire crosses between two parents. No matter how many times two orchids are crossed by hybridizers, or the same orchids of different colors (with a few possible exceptions), the resulting cross is the same grex and carries the same name. (There are one or two errors, which have been preserved to avoid further confusion. The earliest registered name is the correct one.)
Where italics are available, the names of orchid genera, both natural and artificial, are in italics, as are the names of species. In the Orchid Register, only roman type is used. The names of genera and hybrids are capitalized, while the names of species and wild natural hybrids are in lower case.
It is the rule in botany that when the parents of a hybrid are listed, the seed parent is always first, followed by a multiplication sign and the pollen parent, the opposite of the way it is done with animals. When you do a search for a grex name, the parents on your label may not be listed in the same order as in the Register. This is called a reciprocal cross. The grex name is the same.
Letâs say the label on your new orchid reads Slc. Jewel Box 'Scheherazade,' AM/AOS. You want to locate the parents. Go to the above Web site and click on the words "Grex Name Search." Ignore the awards. You will also need to figure out what, if any, are individual clone names, and ignore them, also. If you see a name in single quotes (sometimes erroneously in double quotes), you will know it is a clone name. If you are not sure, just type in the first two words of the name. You do not need to type anything in the Genus field, unless the grex name is an extremely common one, like Rothschildiana. Do not abbreviate a genus name, unless the abbreviation is part of the name. You do not have to capitalize anything. When you have typed in the grex name, click on Search or hit the Enter key.
The next page will give you a choice of three names, Cymbidium Jewel Box, Dendrobium Jewel Box, or Sophrolaeliocattleya Jewel Box. Click on the one you are looking for, and it will take you to the registration information. You will find out that Slc. Jewel Box is a cross of C. aurantiaca (Guarianthe aurantiaca) with Slc. Anzac. It was originated and registered by Stewart, Inc. in 1962.
Apostrophes are a problem. The instructions on the Web page say to ignore them, but if you type in a name that has an apostrophe, you will be told, "No record in databaseâ" whether you included the apostrophe or not. To work around this, if you are sure it is a registered grex, type in the genus name and the part of the name before the apostrophe. For example, if you are searching for Oda. Joe's Drum, you will get the "No record" message whether you type Joes Drum or Joe's Drum. Go back and type Odontioda in the genus field and Joe in the grex field. You will get a list of all the Odontiodas containing the word Joe, including Joe's Drum. Click on it to get the parentage. Do the same for names that contain an umlaut, such as WÃssner.
Now suppose you have the parents of your orchid on the label and you want to find out if the cross has been registered. Go to the registration page and click on Parentage Search. You will get a page with four fields. Where it says Grex, you can also type in a species name if that is one of the parents. Typing in the Genus name is not necessary, but it will narrow the search. If you are not absolutely sure of the genus, leave it out.
Let's say you want the name for the cross of Slc. Jewel Box x California Apricot. Type in the names and click on Search. You will be told, "No record in database, try entering parents in reverse order." Go back to the Search Page. Select California Apricot, cut it, and paste it in the other grex field. Do the same with Jewel Box. This time you will be told that the cross is registered as Sophrolaeliocattleya Hazel Boyd. Click on the grex name if you want the registration data.
One of the most frustrating problems in orchid name detection is when you purchase a plant in good faith that has a name on the label and no parents, and you discover it is not a registered name. When you buy an orchid with an unfamiliar name, always ask for the parents. It may be that the hybridizer fully intends to register it, but hasn't done so. Meanwhile, someone else could register the same cross. If you know the parents, it will not be a problem. If you have the parents and you think the cross has been registered, do a search. If you get the "No record" message, try again in a couple of months.
Sometimes, when you make inquiries of an orchid seller, you will find that the plant is a mericlone and the name on the label is a clonal name. Further probing should eventually reveal the parentage.
ÂÂÂÂ All too often, orchid owners are stymied because the names on the labels are misspelled or faded. If you are getting the "No Record" message, go back and enter only the part of the name you are sure is correct, or try various spellings. The name may be Marie rather than Mary.
ÂÂÂÂ Another mystifying problem is when the label only tells you the grandparents. A label of that type should be written: (C. luteola x Blc. Waikiki Gold) x (C. Cherry Chip x walkeriana). Given that information, you will find that C. luteola x Blc. Waikiki Gold = Blc. Junka Gold. The next search will tell you that C. Cherry Chip x walkeriana = C. Hunabu Surprise. Put them together and Blc. Junka Gold x C. Hunabu Surprise = Blc. Lennea Trimble. The real problem occurs when the label is written carelessly and you have difficulty sorting out which name is which. If the names are unknown, you will have to try them different ways. Sometimes foreign growers put a dash between the grandparents rather than a times sign.
ÂÂÂÂ A special case that may frustrate beginners is the question of natural hybrids, hybrids between two genera or two species that occur in nature. If an old natural hybrid was discovered and named before the cross was made in cultivation, it always carries the name given by the botanist. In botanical writings, the name is in italics, sometimes with a times sign in front of it, e.g. Cattleya xhybrida. When the hybrid is used as a parent in registration, it is written Cattleya Hybrida. If you turn it up in a search on the RHS site, you will see it printed twice, once in lower case, and once capitalized. Nowadays, when someone registers an artificial hybrid, and it is also discovered to be a natural hybrid, the botanist gives it a brand-new name. Both names are correct. If you do a search on Comparettia speciosa x Comparettia falcata, you will see two names, Comp. maloi and Comp. Afterglow.
There is one last step you can take when all else fails and you can't find anyone who can decipher your mystery label. You can contact the Senior Orchid Registrar, Julian Shaw, at [EMAIL PROTECTED]. But please remember that the Orchid Registrarâs job is more taxing than Kofi Annan's, and try to exhaust all other sources of information first.
Iris Cohen
All rights reserved
First appeared in Orchid Review, November-December 2004, reprinted with permission.
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