John DeGood wrote:

I am often curious about the origin of orchid names. Is there an
etymology reference available? Several examples:

Species

- Is D. nobile named after the Italian aeronautical engineer and
Arctic explorer Umberto Nobile?

Almost certainly not, as it was named far before Mr. Nobile's birth,
much less exploits. However, to more appropriately answer your
question, usually the taxonomist will indicate how the name was derived
in the formal publication of the species. So, my favorite from this
weekend was Pleurothallis muricaudata. Muricaudata means "mouse
tails". Anyway, to find out the etymology of the name you need to find
a formal description. Sometimes you can guess, but to know what the
author actually meant means checking the publications.

Grex

- What about the more than 100 "Nobile's xxxxx", e.g. there are 52
grex names of this form just within Blc., ranging from Blc. Nobile's
Advance through Blc. Nobile's Yolk?

Don't know anything about that...

Cultivar

- Do the numerous "Mendenhall" cultivars all originate from Carter &
Holmes Orchids, which is located on Mendenhall Road?

I don't know if they all do, but I'm pretty sure most of them do.

Rob


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2a. See rule 1
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