Susan Erickson wrote:
On Sun, 17 Jul 2005 17:56:46 -0400, "Diana Kulaga"
wrote:


Hello, Fellow Orchid Users, er, Growers......



What does CBM stand for, judges?


Certificate of Botanical Merit - In other words the judges wanted
to get a record of this plant as it is not in the judging records
or they think this clone is significant for some particular
reason.... white when all the recorded ones are colored or
exceptionally large flowers something.

Actually I think (I don't have my handbook with me today) that you can
only give one CBR to a species. Other color forms, interesting flowers,
etc, subsequent to the CBR would have to be given a CHM (Certificate of
Horticultural Merit). The only other award you could give something
with a previous CBR is a JC (judges commendation, which you can give for
anything). Or a quality award, of course (HCC, AM, FCC). There are
multiple CBRs to some species in the records, but that is usually
because of changes in taxonomy.

When a species is new to the judging system, a team can make one of
several calls. This is kind of the philosophy I see in my region: 1)
CBR - get it into the judging records, but we don't think it is
something that is of interest to the majority of the orchid growers out
there. 2) CHM - This is a showy species with some horticultural
desirability. It is nice by itself, and/or might be useful in
hybridizing. Perhaps more people would be interested in it if they
knew it existed. 3) Pass. Well... We see a whole lot of weird
pleurothallids, for example. If we wrote every one of the 50+ new
species of pleurothallids we see in our judging center every year, we
would never have time for anything else. It is hard to make the call
between 1 and 3. If the plant looks like it isn't as well grown as it
should be, or isn't really distinct enough from some other previously
awarded species for us to see much of a difference, we will often pass.

The difference between CBR and CHM is subtle, sometimes. The classic
example (attributed to a wide number of senior judges) is the lawnmower
test. If you would notice it, and mow around it in the lawn, it is a
CHM. If you would mow it over, a CBR.


P. Blood Clot x Hampshire Raven
P. Hampshire Raven x Jolly Roger


Well, I can imagine what they will look like... *grin*

Rob

--
Rob's Rules: http://littlefrogfarm.com
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 obtain more
orchids, obtain more credit