IAS Aroid Quasi Forum

About Aroid-L
 This is a continuously updated archive of the Aroid-L mailing list in a forum format - not an actual Forum. If you want to post, you will still need to register for the Aroid-L mailing list and send your postings by e-mail for moderation in the normal way.

  Hybrids/orchids/Don
From: "Julius Boos" <ju-bo at msn.com> on 2007.02.25 at 22:55:11(15354)
Reply-To : Discussion of aroids
Sent : Saturday, February 24, 2007 7:45 PM
To : aroid-l@gizmoworks.com (Discussion of aroids)
Subject : Re: [Aroid-l] Hybrids?

Don,

Orchids present a special case. It is thought that IN THE WILD they are
generally kept as 'pure species' by the different odors they produce, and
the different times of day/night that these odors are produced, this
attracts different pollinators which are thought to only be attracted to
THAT particular species/genus of orchid. When man puts his 'grubby little
fingers' into the picture wielding a moist camel hair brush, it circumvents
nature, and hybrids, which VERY rarely MIGHT be seen in nature, are
produced.

Good Growing

Julius

+More
From: bonaventure at optonline.net on 2007.02.26 at 20:34:52(15368)
Re orchids - no moist camel hair brush. A toothpick does the job, transferring the pollen as one mass, the pollinium..
+More
From: HUDSONSBIRDS at webtv.net on 2007.03.01 at 14:06:14(15376)
Julius-Again thanks for the clarification. I DO understand that
odor-shape or other "lures" can induce different insects to pollinate a
flower, HOWEVER whether its MAN or INSECT- cross pollination of various
sub-species IS possible.

+More
From: "Julius Boos" <ju-bo at msn.com> on 2007.03.04 at 17:37:16(15383)
Reply-To : Discussion of aroids
Sent : Thursday, March 1, 2007 2:06 PM
To : aroid-l@gizmoworks.com (Discussion of aroids)
Subject : Re: [Aroid-l] Hybrids/orchids/Don

Absoloutly! Cross-pollination has always been possible, and in some cases
obviously occurs even in nature!
I guess what I was/am trying to express is how it would seem that 'Mother
Nature' has put many 'safe-guards' in place to prevent this happening in
MOST cases!
I had two species of Urospatha in cultivation some years ago, they could
esily be told apart by leaf shape and texture, spathe shape and color, etc.
Ones bloom smelled of cantelope, one of over-ripe fruit salad, they
occured far apart in Nature, one at the mouth of the Orinoco River, the
other in Tortugero Canal in Costa Rica. I managed to easily
cross-pollinate one with the other, got 100% viable seeed, and the hybrids
were a good half-way match of the parents. No arguement from me re: the
possibility of species cross-pollination, but would it/could it occur in
Nature??? Who knows! I do know that two species of Philodendron growing
close to the jungle in a friends yard in Fr. Guyana were 'naturally'
cross-pollinated, presumably by scrab beetles, one was P. gouldii, the other
P. solimoense, and the hybrid was one strange-looking plant!

Julius

+More
Note: this is a very old post, so no reply function is available.