slipperorchidblog.com

The Orchid Zone’s P. rothschildianum ‘Rex’ FCC/AOS x ‘Mont Millais’ FCC/AOS cross set a new standard in roth breeding some time ago, blowing way past the previous ‘Charles E.’ FCC/AOS x ‘Borneo’ FCC/AOS cross.  No one had seen roths as imposing, formidable and majestic — it was quite a historic day in the San Francisco AOS judging meeting when OZ brought in this roth crop.  Some in the room were astonished, and some were…crushed.  The grex was awarded a number of FCCs and AMs, and also received an AQ (Award of Quality), and deservedly so.  Of course, the judges passed over some of the best ones (as usual — sort of like calls against the USA in World Cup soccer), but at least they didn’t get them all wrong.  Not that that would ever happen, of course.

OZ took the best of this grex and did what they do best: bred onwards and upwards.  I once asked Terry Root if I could see ‘Mont Millais’ FCC/AOS.  He said he had sold the whole plant, and no longer had it.  I was astounded, and asked him why he had let go of such an historic plant.  His response: “Why do I need it?” (meaning he believed he’d gotten all he could from its genes which resided now in MM’s progeny).  There is some deep breeder wisdom here, for those interested in pondering…

These seedlings derive from the best of the best of the progeny from the’Rex’ x ‘Mont Millais’ group, ‘Rex’ x ‘Nan Chou’, as well as other highly select plants Terry keeps for breeding. Many people think that the ‘Rex’ x ‘MM’ plants that got the FCC’s are the best of that crop. WRONG! (and that’s a good thing for all of us).  Great breeders keep their greatest plants in reserve — submitting for judging could actually lower their value, especially if you get a bad score because of bad judges. (Ahem… I won’t enter into my usual tirade on this point.)

In any case, the very best of the roths that OZ produced have been bred, and their progeny are being released. Here’s a rundown:

NOTE: Pricing was valid when I originally put this list out on my price list.  As these seedlings have now gotten significantly bigger, and will be re-potted into larger pots soon, prices will go up.  I’m thinking it’s 50/50 that Terry will let me get some more at these lower prices, so if you’re interested, please email me ASAP.

a) Z7071 ‘Mighty’ x ‘Red Baron’
‘Mighty’ is from the ‘Rex’ x ‘MM’ cross. I believe it bloomed later than its sibs that received the Award of Quality. ‘Red Baron’ is from the ‘MM’ x ‘Nan Chou’ cross, the latter parent being a particularly dark plant in Taiwan. The owner sent pollen to Terry, who put it on ‘Rex’ and grew up the resulting seedlings. As I recall, some of the recent roth FCC’s came from this cross. In any case, ‘Mighty’ x ‘Red Baron’ is probably the “favored” cross here, although there are many dark horses, and sometimes you get surprised (which is why you should cover all your bets by buying more roths of different crosses!)

Price: $100

b) Z7110 ‘Wide Horizon’ x ‘Chester Hill/OZ’
‘Wide Horizon’ was from the ‘Rex’ x ‘MM’ cross, and its name says it all — a very wide-reaching flower.

‘Chester Hill/OZ’ has an interesting story: Terry Root obtained pollen from Carter & Holmes of ‘Chester Hill’ AM/AOS. While it’s an older cross, I believe Terry liked it because of its petal stance and color. He put this pollen on ‘Rex’ FCC/AOS, and bloomed out the progeny, one of which had particularly large flowers. This is the plant I refer to as ‘Chester Hill/OZ’. He then took this plant, and crossed it with ‘Red Baron’, which was produced from a cross of ‘Nan Chou’ x ‘Mont Millais’. ‘Nan Chou’ is among the deepest colored roths Terry has ever seen.

Price: $75

c) Z7134 ‘Chester Hill/OZ’ x ‘Colossus’
‘Colossus’ is from ‘Rex’ x ‘MM’. I think the name tells us a lot — must be pretty big. Actually, it is well-known that ‘Rex’ produces large flowers, so those genes must be shining through.

Price: $75

d) Z7135 ‘Chester Hill/OZ’ x ‘Red Baron’
(Both parents already described above) Price: $75

e) Z7136 ‘Red Baron’ x ‘Mighty’
This is the reciprocal cross of Z7110. It seems to me that if TR did the reciprocal cross, both of these parents must be superb. There are some who say that the capsule (pod) parent has an added influence on color. I suppose this is possible since the maternal parent contributes extra genes in the mitochondrial DNA found in the egg, but everything I’ve heard is anecdotal. But if this theory holds true, then these progeny will produce darker colored flowers than ‘Mighty’ x’ RB’ cross. So don’t miss out!

Price: $100

f) Z7137 ‘Red Baron’ x ‘Wide Horizon’
Both of these plants (previously described) appear to be good parents, since they’ve been used in multiple crosses.

Price: $75

g) Z7172 ‘Dazzler’ x ‘Buff’
I saw ‘Dazzler’ in bloom last year, and it looked fantastic. Then TR told me this was a crappy blooming. Wow. If what I thought was a really great blooming didn’t hit TR’s standards, then I wonder what it’s select progeny will do! ‘Buff’ is Rex x MM, so I would expect these progeny to bloom out very robustly.

Price: $75 or $100 (sorry, will need to confirm)

h) Z7174 ‘Red Rider’ x ‘Buff’
‘Red Rider’ is from ‘Rex’ x ‘Nan Chou’ and ‘Buff’ is a ‘Rex’ x ‘MM’. This is a parallel cross to ‘Mighty’ x’ Red Baron’. If you’re looking to get some excellent 2nd generation plants, it is definitely a good idea to spread your bets — it’s well-known that the “best” parents don’t always produce the best progeny. This is true in all kinds of breeding: orchids, dogs, cats, horses, and let’s not forget humans. A few examples come to mind…

Price: $100

Some of you may not know this, but there were many, many ‘Rex’ x ‘MM’ progeny grown up from flask, and while they’ve become hard to find these days, I saw a number of them here and there the last few years. These were primarily the runty ones, slow and difficult to grow, that had finally reached maturity — years after their more vigorous sibs had already bloomed (maybe several times). I fully expect the same situation to happen with this generation of OZ roths. So if you’d like to get the strong, vigorous growers from this new crop of roths, now would be a good time…

• Read comments... (3)

I heard recently something that just killed me. In China, where micranthum and armeniacum grow natively, farmers will feed these precious plants to their pigs! Talk about throwing your pearls before swine…

Certainly makes you wonder how abundantly they must grow there if they can serve as pig feed.

• Comments Off

What do boxing, figure skating, gymnastics, and orchids all have in common?

(Hint: It’s not athleticism.)

Answer: In competition, they’re all judged by people. Sometimes people with divided loyalties.

A friend of mine brought a P. spicerianum in for judging, a truly beautiful specimen.

The judges looked at it. They squinted at it. They snorted and harrumphed. Then they declared it a hybrid, not a species, and would not judge it for an award.

They gave the following reasons:

1) The width of the leaves. They’re too narrow.

I’d suggest that these judges take a refresher course in genetics. Variation happens in all natural things. Leaf width will necessarily vary as a result of genetics. Some people have long earlobes, and some short. Some have long pinkies, and some don’t. If you look at enough of anything biological, you will find outliers. The variation in biology is built-in.

Variation can also result from environment. I have had plants that I acquired with leaves that were quite wide and round, and on subsequent growths, the leaves narrowed. No change in genetics, simply a change in the type of light.

2) The way the dorsal looks. It’s the wrong shape.

3) It has green spots on the staminode, a certain sign of its contaminated hybrid lineage.

Hmm… I would’ve thought they’d give a plant the benefit of the doubt, and judge it as if it were a species plant since it’s plain that not all judges are professional taxonomists (nor does anyone expect them to be). The award could stay provisional until submission of taxonomic verification.

Or do you need to bring verification from a taxonomist prior to the judging? Seems that with some judges, that might annoy them even more.

Well, I looked into the staminodal question. And here’s proof that P. spicerianum species plants — identified and confirmed by a professional taxonomist (it’s in his book!)– can and do have green spots on their staminodal sheilds:

From Braem & Chiron, Paphiopedilum (2003), p. 169.

• (0)

If we were to think back to our days in elementary school (or pretty much any school), there was always the odd kid who no one hung around with. Usually, it was fairly obvious why that was the case.

Then there were some kids I recall who seemed like they ought to be in the popular crowd, but weren’t. They weren’t unattractive, or dirty, nor were there things personality-wise that caused them to be shunned. Maybe it was just that they were new, or had a tough time with the already-established cliques, or some chance event or accusation branded them as outcasts, although they were “normal” in every way. Some kids might have been cast as undesirables because they had different names, or had the wrong color lunch box, or maybe too much hair on their forearms.

I know a Paph species that seems like it ought to be in the popular crowd, but isn’t for some reason. As a species, it has a lot going for it:

• a bold, brightly colored flower
• distinctive flower form
• easy to grow, can reach specimen size in reasonable time frame
• not gargantuan, nor minuscule

What paph lover couldn’t at least be casual friends with this flower?

If you don’t know this species, please meet P. hirsutissimum. So why isn’t P. hirsutissimum more popular?

Is it the short stem?

The flower odor? (Well, here’s the news — there isn’t any).

The hair? Aha — maybe that’s it! Well, that’s what “hirsute” means: hairy! (Click hirsutissiumum-close-up.JPG to see the high-resolution picture where you can zoom in to see the fine detail)

But why let a little hair keep you from a love affair with this beautiful orchid? I mean, look closely at the popular kids in slipper orchid school — rothschildianum or sanderianum — and you’ll notice that they’re covered in warts!

• (0)

The ‘Charles E.’ clone of P. rothschildianum is certainly a very influential plant in paph circles, and the ‘Borneo’ clone equally so. Both received FCCs and produced many progeny which themselves won numerous AOS awards. All well and good.

Every year, though, I get inquiries about these plants from excited collectors new to slipper orchids. New “pouch people” getting into roths are often dazzled by the awards given to ‘Charles E.’ and ‘Borneo’. What they don’t realize is how outdated those awards are, having been given thirty years ago. Now, I am not knocking the plants themselves — they are fine rothschildianums (and I’m proud to own both). But it’s sort of like flipping through old Playboy magazines from the 60’s — if you grew up in a era of silicone “perfection,” you’re astonished at how times and tastes have changed.

So where is a collector (of rothschildianums, not Playboys) to start?

I believe the current standard in roths is still ‘Rex’ FCC/AOS x ‘Mont Millais’ FCC/AOS produced by the Orchid Zone. One can easily and fairly argue, however, that the ‘Val’ FCC/AOS x ‘Mont Millais’ FCC/AOS cross from the Tokyo Orchid Nursery is the best. Well, as always, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and when it comes to orchids, in the hands of the grower.

Progeny from both of these crosses has been the foundation of much of the current breeding in roths. The Orchid Zone has been continuing to push roth breeding by selecting the best of their ‘Rex’ x ‘MM’ plants, and crossing with progeny from ‘Nan Chou’ (a very dark roth) x ‘MM’ and other crosses. I have been fortunate to acquire a number of seedlings of this cutting edge breeding; if you are interested, please email me.

Many of the crosses coming from Asia these days actually bring both (Rex x MM) and (Val x MM) progeny together. (Actually, ‘Val’ FCC/AOS was one of the progeny of the ‘Charles E.’ x ‘Borneo’ cross.) In other cases, select plants have been outcrossed to plants originally wild-collected.

All of this genetic mixing and matching should produce some really spectacular stuff. So the future looks very exciting for roth nuts.

• (0)

I had the pleasure of meeting Manolo Arias of Peru Flora at the 19th WOC in Miami. We got to talking about Phrag. kovachii, of course. He related to me that he had brought a plant in bloom for the show. The hoops and red tape he had to go through in order to get the plant out of Peru was simply stupefying. Inspections, forms, bureaucracy, a trip to Lima, and more inspections, forms, and bureaucracy. In fact, a leaf cutting was taken, probably to ensure that it matches up to the plant on the way back to Peru. Through the whole ordeal, the plant held up — in bloom — like a trooper.

Finally, Mr. Arias got it to the show in Miami. On the first day, during the show setup time, he placed it in an area in his booth where it would receive cooler air, and not be under the glare of lights. The flower held up proudly.

The next day, the day of AOS judging, he put the plant out in the display area for show judging. It must’ve drawn many ooh’s and aah’s; unfortunately, I wasn’t there to see it.

Then, disaster. Six hours before judging, under the stress of the glare and lights and plant papparazzi and botanical lust, the plant dropped its flower. What a heartbreak, especially after making the long journey from Peru…

• Comments Off

I was very fortunate to have three sanderianums come into bloom in late December/early January 2008. That meant I could, for the first time, exhibit my own plants at the annual Paphiopedilum Guild meeting. And this year, for the first time, the Paph Guild gave an award to Best Species (and primary hybrid) and Best Complex Hybrid. It was very exciting watching serious slipper orchid people look at my own plants, as I’ve never put up a display before.

The three plants were ‘Whirlpool’, ‘Double Helix’, and ‘Whirligig’. ‘Whirligig’ got the most votes, by far. The tally wasn’t even close. I was quite surprised, as I thought ‘Double Helix’ was the best, but the color on ‘Whirligig’ was said to be much darker and upon closer inspection, it was true. I suppose I thought ‘Double Helix’ had more twistiness to the petals. In any case, the petal length on these is in the 60 - 65 cm range.

The first picture is the whole display (sorry, I’m not a great photographer). ‘Double Helix’ is in the center with the square pot and ‘Whirligig’ is on the far right. ‘Whirlpool is on the far left behind ‘Double Helix’. You can click on the picture to see a larger version.

This one (below) is ‘Whirligig’ by itself.

Here are some more links to pictures:

sanderianum Double Helix

sanderianum Whirlpool

If anyone is interested in getting a blooming size sanderianum like this (mature with unbloomed growth), please let me know at orchids@paphinessorchids.com.

• (0)

I am very pleased to have recently obtained from the Orchid Zone a division of P. spicerianum ‘St. Albans’. The flower is quite modest compared to some of the latest breeding of this species from OZ (let me know if you’re interested in getting some), but it is definitely a valuable piece of orchid history. The “St. Alban’s” name comes from the location of Frederick Sander’s nursery. Sander and Sons was one of the most famous orchid dealers in the world, and was responsible for the discovery of numerous new plant species. Sander’s collectors ranged throughout Southeast Asia, the Pacific, and South America in the quest for new orchids, and some of them were named after him: P. sanderianum and Vanda sanderiana, to name just two. In fact, the commonplace “lucky bamboo” Dracaena sanderiana was named after him!

Anyways, here’s P. spicerianum ‘St. Albans’:

I love spicerianum as its flower is unique and distinctive, it grows quickly, and it tolerates a wide range of conditions. In fact, I’ve read that the first spicerianum plant known in England arrived as not much more than a root in a shipment of other orchids from India. (Hmm, recovering a valuable plant from just a piece of rhizome and root is something I’ve had to try all too many times.) The hardy plant fluourished in Mrs. Spicer’s greenhouse, and eventually set off a massive hunt for this rare species.

If you are interested in obtaining a division of this plant, please email me at orchids@paphinessorchids.com.

• (0)

P. spicerianums are very much in bloom now. It is one of my favorite species, being easy to grow, and charming to look at. The story of its discovery is fascinating as well. The following is an excerpt from About Orchids (1893) by Frederick Boyle:

It [P. spicerianum] turned up among a quantity of Cypripedium insigne in the greenhouse of Mrs. Spicer, a lady residing at Twickenham. Astonished at the appearance of this swan among her ducks, she asked Mr. Veitch to look at it. He was delighted to pay seventy guineas down for such a prize. Cypripediums propagate easily, no more examples came into the market, and for some years this lovely species was a treasure for dukes and millionaires. It was no secret that the precious novelty came from Mrs. Spicer’s greenhouse; but to call on a strange lady and demand how she became possessed of a certain plant is not a course of action that commends itself to respectable business men. The circumstances gave no clue. Messrs. Spicer were and are large manufacturers of paper; there is no visible connection betwixt paper and Indian orchids. By discreet inquiries, however, it was ascertained that one of the lady’s sons had a tea-plantation in Assam. No more was needed.

Here, like many tales of orchid discovery, things get a bit confused and muddled. The Mr. Veitch named above was one of the premier orchid and plant dealers in England (and hence the world), and his botanical legacy lives on to this day. Veitch was in competition with Frederick Sander (after whom P. sanderianum is named), whose orchid exploits earned him the moniker of “The Orchid King.” The confusion comes in the mention of Mr. Forstermann in the next sentence. Forstermann was the actual orchid hunter who ventured nto the wildest of places to find these rarest of plants. Forstermann didn’t work for Veitch, though — he worked for Sander.

By the next mail Mr. Forstermann started for that vague destination, and in process of time reached Mr. Spicer’s bungalow. There he asked for “a job.” None could be found for him; but tea-planters are hospitable, and the stranger was invited to stop a day or two. But he could not lead the conversation towards orchids—perhaps because his efforts were too clever, perhaps because his host took no interest in the subject. One day, however, Mr. Spicer’s manager invited him to go shooting, and casually remarked “we shall pass the spot where I found those orchids they’re making such a fuss about at home.” Be sure Mr. Forstermann was alert that morning! Thus put upon the track, he discovered quantities of it, bade the tea-planter adieu, and went to work; but in the very moment of triumph a tiger barred the way, his coolies bolted, and nothing would persuade them to go further. Mr. Forstermann was no shikari, but he felt himself called upon to uphold the cause of science and the honour of England at this juncture. In great agitation he went for that feline, and, in short, its skin still adorns Mrs. Sander’s drawing-room. Thus it happened that on a certain Thursday a small pot of C. Spicerianum was sold, as usual, for sixty guineas at Stevens’s; on the Thursday following all the world could buy fine plants at a guinea.

Hmm, exaggerations and orchid sales go hand in hand. The bit about science and England’s honor seems to omit the true motivation: the money. Rare orchids in those days, being the near-exclusive province of nobility and merchant princes, commanded astronomical prices. They still do (but more on that in another post.) Ultimately, many thousands of plants were sent to England, and eventually some made it to the US, where they could be obtained in 1889 for $5 each. What is that in today’s dollars? Probably somewhere between $113 to ~$500. (You can obtain an estimate at www.measuringworth.com, where you get a range of values depending on how you look at relative worth.) Today, in 2007 dollars, you can obtain a fine specimen of this once exceedingly valuable plant for $20 - $30. Interested parties should email orchids@paphinessorchids.com.

• (0)

I have a theory as to why orchids became so popular during Victorian England.

The stereotype of that era is one of sexual repression and prudishness bordering on the comical. For example, the word “leg” was considered too overtly sexual for public discussion, so the more clinical term “limb” was used. Women’s ankles were also considered sexually suggestive, so they were always kept covered under layers of clothing. In fact, I’ve heard it said that table legs were covered in pantaloons to smother over any potential impropriety or lewd thoughts.

So you can imagine the consternation, the titillation, the gasps, the blushing, and the fainting that must have come with the flowering of P. venustum, the first officially described Paphiopedilum orchid brought to Great Britain in 1820.

It probably didn’t help the situation that the mottled pattern on the leaves caused P. venustum to be known as the “snake skin” orchid.

The counts and dukes and earls and barons and the merchant princes — and their ladies — could gather around these exquisite, erotic, exotic flowers and discuss the finer points of botany, all in wonderful Latin euphemisms (but be thinking of something else entirely):

• glabrous (smooth, non-hairy)
• pubescent (covered with hairs)
• labellum (lip)
• sub-erect (nearly straight up)
• venae (veins)
• saccate (shaped like a pouch or sac)
• undulate (up and down)

No wonder the English developed such a lust for slipper orchids over the next century.

• (0)