It did turn out to be a cornu-cervi when it bloomed (or a specie that looks
a lot like it; pantherina, deceptrix, whatever.) but it had no remarkable
amount of red in it when compared to the other non-named clones I have
accumulated. I do have a cornu-cervi f. thalebanii which was sold to me as
Phal. thelebanii but it hasn't yet bloomed so I don't yet know what I spent
all that money on.

I have puzzled over this for years:
One, why I bought it after she demonstrated in person the same quality that
*does* drive me away from website catalogs. There is often more than one
way to write a plant name, espceially a species but there are also obvious
errors that point to vendor ignornace of their product that can not be
attributed to spelling mistakes or taxonomic sources.
Two: I keep thinking she was trying to communicate
Phal. cornu-cervi ('Redwing' x self)
as I questioned her but that tag, written as it was, definitely could not be
construed to mean this. She should have known better if that's what she was
trying to say.

Those space aliens can not be trusted. I have heard those promises before
and done (and probably will do) all kinds of monkey-like things whenever
such a big banana is dangled in front of me. Right now they have me working
on "Hamlet" without benifit of a text copy to guide me. They heard some
theory... Anyway, the only thing worse than alien laughter in your head is
an improperly written orchid tag.

And another thing that makes me crazy: people in newsgroups who don't stick
to the thread topic.

Al
"Non cogitamus, ergo nihil sumus" and I wish I knew the latin for "Keep
your buttons hidden or some fool will push them just for fun." ...and
enough from me today...

"Rob Halgren" wrote in message
...
Al, the space aliens are offering to give your brain back if you
don't ever do that again. Stupid and/or uneducated vendors should be
culled in the way nature intended. I'd personally prefer hungry wolves,
but market forces are good too. At some point the professor in me takes
over and I give them a (not infrequently polite) lecture on the errors
of their ways. I'm sure that makes me a (use whatever rude expletive
you choose), but I'm just a wolf in Hawaiian's clothing (Aloha shirt) at
most orchid shows, helping the market forces.

There are always other places to buy things, and in my opinion, we
should try to support the good vendors who know what they are talking
about. It drives me nuts that some otherwise knowledgable growers do
stupid things, like call a single species a 'specie' (I can't express
how much I hate that! - Ok, it is Dana at Hausermanns, give him hell for
me). People who have been growing for decades are allowed a few quirks,
what bothers me is people who decide that they will become vendors after
growing a couple orchids for a year, knowing nothing about orchids and
perhaps a few things about capitalism. Come back in a few years when
you know what you are talking about, and I'll be happy to do business
with you.

Anyway, that is how I screen my vendors... They have to know their
stock, and have at least a rudimentary understanding of how plants are
named. I prefer evidence that they actually grow the plants themselves
for a period of time, rather than just wholesaling budded stock. The
good ones know the breeding behind their plants, even if they didn't
actually make the cross. The best ones know the breeding behind plants
that their competitors are offering... You can learn alot about vendors
you haven't even met (like on the internet) just by applying the rules
of plant naming to their website. I can't trust somebody who can't get
genus and species correct and properly formatted (genus capitalized,
species not, etc.). Now if I've met them in person I may let such
little things slide, but the internet is chock full o' idiots (myself
included, I suspect).

Rob (not a vendor... or a shark, for that matter.)

--
Rob's Rules: http://www.msu.edu/~halgren
1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a. See rule 1
3) When one has insufficient credit to purchase
more orchids, obtain more credit