"Christopher J Barown" wrote in message
...
Is there any official way to document plant lineage?
What I mean to ask is, is there any way to prove that
a plant that someone sells to me is what they say it
is? Or are you required to take the word of the seller?

Interesting question. In a word, yes and no.... *G*

In this case knowledge is power. If you are a beginner you kinda have to
take the word of the person selling the plant. If you have a bit of
experience and knowledge of species then you know what a species should look
like and you can kind sorta tell if the plant *is* that species or
contributes to that hybrid. Unless its a very complex hybrid, in which case
your guess is as good as anyone's. But unless someone's trying to pass of a
small plant that everyone knows is a big plant, then yo kinda have to trust
the vendor.

There's a case of the Vanda coerulea (a species) that was absolutely the
most marvelous flower this species has ever produced, so it was given an FCC
award. Some people thought that it simply HAD to be a hybrid because
coerulea simply NEVER has the shape this flower had. So the owner had a DNA
analysis done on the plant and sure enough the plant was a hybrid, so the
award was withdrawn. The owner didn't have to have the analysis done. He
was in his rights to tell everyone to shut up. But he is an honorable
person and probably wondered about it himself. So he undertook the expense
of the test. Voila.


Obviously some sellers are reputable enough, so you
don't have to question their plants. But in the case
of an orchid/garden show (or on-line sites and auctions
for that metter), where young plants are being sold,
how can you be sure you are getting what you pay for?

You really don't and there have been cases where the tags get mixed up at
shows, people pull tags and think they put them back on the right plant, but
really they didn't. I bought what i thought was a white catt Mount Hood
'Mary' and it turned out to be a deep luscious red, which I think was
actually Owen Holmes, becasue it was in the rack right next to the 'Mary's.
So now I got an Owen Holmes that is drop dead gorgeous but I can't prove its
what it is. No difference to me.

Sometimes if uo are lucky a hybrid is so well known that any idiotcan
identify it. more commonly there are so many that look exactly the same like
green and white paphs for example, that no one can tell them apart. Can't
tell the players wthout a score card.

Most of the time what the vendor sells is what the plant is, online or
otherwise. I can't vouch for online (ebay) sellers or plants that ordinary
people trade/sell online for that matter.

K Barrett