Re: [OGD] Orchids Digest, Vol 8, Issue 156
My generation prefers a greenback to a greenbelt. All my friends are undereducated and overweight, we entertain the dullest dreams and wear jumpsuits of felt. My peers use television and tacos to stay sedate. We are more concerned with our clothes and hair, While Chinese children labor day and night. Worries like fashion leave no time to care about repercussions and earthly blight. Just give us a cheap car that sounds like an angry bee With stickers, rap music, and useless accessories. Dot, My statement certainly does not negate yours, but it probably does make it moot. My generation... I certainly don't proclaim us to be better, that was sarcasm. Those of you who no habla de sarcasm can ask Guido about it. I personally don't often eat a burger. For one, you can't get a good burger around Dallas unless you go to Keller's or Watson Burger. Secondly, my girlfriend doesn't eat beef, so therefore it isn't convenient. However, my sushi quotient has gone up. I live on the third floor and have legs like tree trunks. I study finance for grades and program security software for fun. I can't speak much of my peers, if you can call them that. They just happen to be my age, but talk about the most inane bullshit. They have no awareness of what goes on in government, economy, politics, history, religion, foreign policy, etc; or for that matter, anything outside their tiny realm of understanding. At least your generation reads the newspaper, we watch The Daily Show anchored by John Stewart to get our news. You asked who my generation votes for. I will openly tell you we vote for whoever is put in front of our face, if we vote at all. Today, it is Paris Hilton. Not that your generation does any better with Arnold Schwarzenegger. You also asked what do we do? Nothing. What do I do? I do what I can for conservation. Infact, I've been informed recently that the known habitat for Paphiopedilum tigrinum has been destroyed by flooding. So I'm going to prepare some flasks and get permits for re-introduction, as crazy as that sounds. I run a non profit (phytosophy.org) to discuss plant conservation legislature. I am also an active member in the Orchid Conservation Coalition. Is this enough? Certainly not. But it is a good start. The energy I buy is solar produced, and my next car will run on waste vegetable oil (<$0.40/gallon!). I've tried to integrate conservation into my lifestyle and my businesses. It isn't easy. I stay up thinking about the amount of chemical waste it takes to produce those solar cells my energy comes from, wondering if I can make any difference at all. Most of all, I wonder what our children's children's children will think of us and how we left them to inherit a dirty, toxic, corrupt, and relatively uninhabitable planet. I remember it started out so simple. We had a nice neighborhood in the suburbs, and I would ride my bike around the block or read a book. Today I look outside my window and see the next generation of fat little Americans puttering through the intersection on motor scooters while playing with their gameboys. Where did it all start going wrong? Steve Topletz Dorothy> Dear Steve, Dorothy> Your argument does not negate my statement. I do not disagree with Dorothy> what you said, but if my generation is so bad, and yours so good, Dorothy> then it follows that yours should not be driving SUVs, or eating Dorothy> hamburgers. It should be making sure that the rain and other forests Dorothy> are not destroyed or overly logged, that endangered and threatened Dorothy> species are protected, etc. Are you? Dorothy> Who does your generation vote for??? Dorothy> Dot >> From: Steve Topletz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] "Good climate changes"
>Subject: [OGD] "Are there spects of climate change that could be > good?" > >For whom? Oh, maybe big corporations have an appreciation, as the changing environment means we are buying and using their products at a rate that is satisfying to their board of directors and investors. I'm guessing that they expect their grandchildren to be living in climate- controlled domes somewhere down the road, making the whole tasteless issue irrelevant. Here in north Florida (the Big Bend area) we are on our 11th year of below normal rainfall. The only reason it cannot officially be considered a drought is because occasionally, a bunch of hurricanes or tropical storms come along and make it appear that some years are close to "normal." However, I can look outside and see two giant live oaks that are likely well over 100 years old. Over the past two years they have been in steady decline, dropping leaves and whole branches during the fall and winter. Many dogwoods have perished, along with a significant number of pines. For those people who found all those leaves and pine needles irksome to rake up on their chemically- treated lawns, a climate shift would indeed be a blessing. My wife, who loves hot weather much more than cold, might see an up side in the short term, though she has developed a fondness for trees lately and the large number of dead and dying trees around here is making her sad. I suppose professional climatologists might be happy that they still have jobs so they can afford to pay over $3.00 a gallon for their big SUVs. If everything was stable, who would they get paid to scare the living hell out of? Don't mind me, I'm just bitter. Jim ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
Re: [OGD] Orchids Digest, Vol 8, Issue 156
Dear Steve,Your argument does not negate my statement. I do not disagree with what you said, but if my generation is so bad, and yours so good, then it follows that yours should not be driving SUVs, or eating hamburgers. It should be making sure that the rain and other forests are not destroyed or overly logged, that endangered and threatened species are protected, etc. Are you?Who does your generation vote for???DotFrom: Steve Topletz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] E-AOS
Regarding the e-AOS, I've been using it for about 12 days, and its excellent. Our judging center used it last week, and we used it for AOS judging at the New York show. The photo's (11,600 so far) were helpful in comparing plants for judging. It appears to work better than Wildcatt, with the benefit of photo's and more up to date information. It's also convenient for looking up plants by where they were awarded, and by exhibitor. Given that the price ($45/subscription) is very reasonable, it's a great buy. Arthur Katz ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] Roots question
Peter, I do not remember the source either, but I believe the statement was made in reference to Vanilla roots. If indeed this is true for Vanilla roots, that does not make it true for all orchid roots.The notion, expressed in many orchid books, that there are only two kinds of orchid roots is false. The large diversity of orchid root velamen structures must have a practical reason. Orchidaceae spp roots have the ability to adapt to their environment and substrates. Why should it have stopped at orchid flowers, adapting to pollinators in their habitat? >Peter O'Byrne who said: >BTW Stephen, although Holttum's quotation says that little of the>water absorbed by the velamen is passed to the interior of the root,>it DOESN'T say "absorption of water and nutrients is limited to the>areas of the roots growing in contact with the substrate." Perhaps>that came from some other source ? ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] Cattleya Alice B. du Pont
"Longwood Gardens , in Pennsylvania's Brandywine Valley (US)... new Cattleya "Alice B. du Pont," a white beauty with a faint splash of yellow named after one of Longwood's most nurturing benefactors." source : http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/28/AR2006042800701.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/travel ** regards, VB ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
Re: [OGD] eAOS
I ordered it and have not received my copy yet because they are creating more CDs. Therefore I can't say anything substantive about how it works. At the Member's Meeting in Santa Rosa they said it would have some award photos, I think they'll have a few thousand in the first run. Over future editions they intend to add more. They intend to up date this monthly (I believe). Since I'm unsure, I'll shutup now and let someone else talk. Purchasing the eAOS program does not release an AOS judge from their requirement to also subsrcibe to the AQ magazine. That's it. That's all I got. K Barrett N Calif, USA I will try this question again. Has anyone used the e-AOS Awards Program? It appears to be an improvement on the Wildcatt database program since it includes photos. Bob Hoffman Huntington Beach Orchids _ Dont just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search! http://search.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200636ave/direct/01/ ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
Re: [OGD] Global Warming, etc.
Dot, I'm afraid I would have to disagree. While a reduction in population is a basic tenet of Aldo Leopold's theory of Deep Conservation, his other principles bare much more weight. A married couple would have to have at least two children in order to sustain the population. However, each American produces over 700 Lbs of garbage per year. Most of that is from packaging materials of things we buy. In America, we are fat, and we love to eat. Did you know that every hamburger you eat takes about 1300 gallons of water in order to grow and process the meat? Or how about our obsession with cars, especially big ones? A typical car will produce 10,000 Lbs of carbon dioxide and other pollutants in a year. Those of us with SUVs produce about 15,000 Lbs. It get's better. Over 5% of airpollution in the US, is caused by... lawn and garden equipment! We're the biggest industrial polluter in the world; it isn't a surprise we won't sign the Kyoto protocol. Not that it matters, because 5%...10% or 20% reductions in polution won't have much of an affect. The damage we do by release so much extra carbons will stay in the atmosphere for 10,000 years, and only begin to decline after 100 years. So consider, as we are, we only react when there is a problem. If we wait till then, it is too late. At least in the US we win the gold in pollution. Go USA, We're #1! So when I hear that the human species must control it's own reproduction, I think 'sure, as longs as you want to keep an irresponsible lifestyle towards the earth'. We could continue to support this population if we and manufacturers were a little less consumer-impulse oriented, and a little more green. I'm not trying to sound real 'earth-ship', but I can't deny that there is a great disassociation between our need for entitlement and the damage it does. But hey, forget all that propaganda. Let's just stick with science. A few hundred years ago, available oxygen was about 36%+. Our current available oxygen in the atmosphere is about 21%. Just for fun, when available 02 levels drop below 16%, global extinctions will occur. At 13%, animals health declines. Below 6%, humans die. Already, there are regions and cities with <10% oxygen levels in such as Tokyo and Mexico city. So, at our current rate of carbon production... I really wouldn't worry about the population control... It will handle its self. I just can't imagine the day when we will have to start rationing air, or buy it like any other utility or commodity. Most of this pollution is thanks to YOUR generation. And if our current consumerism is any indicator, you've taught your children well. God Bless America, Steve Topletz Dorothy> Until the human species learns to control it's own reproduction, we Dorothy> can hardly expect to have a positive effect on the whole ecosystem. Dorothy> That is the real issue, and the underlying cause of all that is Dorothy> happening to our planet. Dorothy> Dot Dorothy> From Mark Sullivan, in part: >> ...This is what I think and believe. I think humans, as a single >> species has had more of an impact on environmental change, climate >> change, and the endangerment or extinction of species, then any >> other single species in the history of the earth. Most of this >> impact has happened in the last hundred years. I do believe that if >> we continue using earth resources with little thought and continue >> extinguishing species by our action that even though we will >> survive the current climate change we will continue extinguishing >> many of the new species that you think are a silver lining to >> climate change. I do believe, while this current climate change >> hasn't played itself out, we do have choices, and we can change our >> actions. We can use the earth's resources more wisely. We can care >> about conservation of what we may think are trivial species... ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] orchid hunting in Florida
"orchid-hunting... in Goethe State Forest. The Native Plant Society of Alachua County sponsored the trip. ..., Paul Martin Brown, wrote the book Wild Orchids of Florida. Brown has worked to locate and identify various types of wild orchids in Goethe Forest. With Brown leading, the group followed him to various locations in the southern end of the forest where he had previously found and marked the location of orchids. Wild orchids can be tricky to find because many of them are small, delicate and generally have few if any leaves. Also many orchids do not come up every year and their locations change. Rainfall affects the blooming number of some wild orchids, and other factors such as too frequent mowing or change in habitat can mean the increase or decrease of orchid survival. Brown showed... one tiny orchid, a type of spiranthes or ladies'-tresses, that nearly disappeared from much of its habitat. He worked with Goethe staff and the Levy County Public Works to alter the time of year and amount of mowing that they did along road shoulders. With the change in mowing, this rare type of ladies'-tresses has increased in number. ... several types of ladies'-tresses orchids including short-lipped, Eaton's, woodland, and giant ladies'-tresses... All... have a bloom stalk with tiny white to pale green flowers twisting around in a corkscrew on the stalk. The locally common grass-leaved ladies'-tresses has appeared in my yard and in pastures... the rose pegonia [Pogonia ophioglossoides] orchid growing along the moist ditches of a road shoulder. The rose pegonia... a pale pink flower with fringes on the lower petal. In a burned area of Goethe accessed by a limerock road... two blooming orchids called many-flowered grass-pink this orchid produces clusters of bright pink flowers... a wood along a road in Marion County. The green adder's mouth orchid has a single leaf that cups itself around the flower stalk. The cluster of tiny flowers are so small they appear like dots of greenish white. ... Some of the ladies'-tresses orchids... grew in pine wood habitat... sample of the types of wild orchids Brown has located and identified. Some wild orchids grow in different locations and some bloom at other times of the year. Brown distributed a handout listing orchids, where they are found, and what time of year they bloom..." source : http://www.willistonpioneer.com/articles/2006/04/28/news/features/features02.txt ** regards, VB ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] Cayman orchids
"Orchid Society... In 1986 a... group of people came together to promote... Cayman orchids. ... recognised as an entity that developers could call to collect orchids before land was cleared. .. members of the public voted for the banana orchid [Schomburgkia thomsoniana] to be Cayman's national flower. That choice was confirmed by the government of the day in February 1996, when national symbols were adopted." source : http://www.caycompass.com/cgi-bin/CFPnews.cgi?ID=1012884 ** regards, VB ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
Re: [OGD] Global Warming, etc.
Until the human species learns to control it's own reproduction, we can hardly expect to have a positive effect on the whole ecosystem. That is the real issue, and the underlying cause of all that is happening to our planet.DotFrom Mark Sullivan, in part:...This is what I think and believe. I think humans, as a single species has had more of an impact on environmental change, climate change, and the endangerment or extinction of species, then any other single species in the history of the earth. Most of this impact has happened in the last hundred years. I do believe that if we continue using earth resources with little thought and continue extinguishing species by our action that even though we will survive the current climate change we will continue extinguishing many of the new species that you think are a silver lining to climate change. I do believe, while this current climate change hasn't played itself out, we do have choices, and we can change our actions. We can use the earth's resources more wisely. We can care about conservation of what we may think are trivial species... ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] Holttum, Roots question, and getting facts right (yet again!!)
I found it strange that people were jumping in to question R.E. Holttum's botany and knowledge of orchids. After all, this is the man who was the director of the Singapore Botanic Gardens from 1925 to 1949, and was then Professor of Botany at the University of Singapore until his 1954, and was awarded an Sc.D. degree by Cambridge University in 1951 in recognition of his published works on Malaysian botany. With his experience, Holttum is unlikely to have been ignorant of the fact that Vanda roots are often completely aerial. So I read the article (thanks to Stephen Manza for providing the link), and it was immediately obvious that those who criticized Holttum's expertise simply hadn't bothered checking before blasting but then, we've come to expect that, haven't we ? Holttum wasn't describing his own findings he was quoting a couple of other researchers ... Dycus & Knudson (Bot. Gaz. 119, 78-87, 1957). So Andy, it looks like you're going to have to revise your statements to read: "Knudson was no physiologist", and "Knudson had little practical knowledge of orchid culture." Please don't forget to post your corrections here on OGD, Andy ... we're all looking forward to reading them. BTW Stephen, although Holttum's quotation says that little of the water absorbed by the velamen is passed to the interior of the root, it DOESN'T say "absorption of water and nutrients is limited to the areas of the roots growing in contact with the substrate." Perhaps that came from some other source ? Cheers, Peter O'Byrne in Singapore ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] "Are there spects of climate change that could be good?"
For whom? John Stanley ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
