Diane,

There are - unfortunately - a lot of "ifs" in that discussion, and those ifs
relate to your "it can be identified" phrase, as that's the problem.

If it is positively identified, sure, label it and move onward. If not...

If it's a species rather than a hybrid, identification is a lot easier. Not
foolproof, but easier. On the assumption that it is a hybrid, you'd need to
contact every vendor that your retail source deals with, and query them as
to whether they supply "cattleya-type" plants to your vendor.

If the answer is yes, then you need to know exactly what hybrids they each
supplied. Once you've got that confirmed, you need to know what pretty much
any variation of each and all of those hybrids look like.

With that found out, you need to know if any are similar to yours. If the
answer is yes, and it's only one, then you've probably got a good bet as to
the ID, and can confidently label it. If there's more than one, youse in a
heapa trouble, as there is really no practical way to know FOR SURE what
you've got.

--

Ray Barkalow First Rays Orchids
http://www.firstrays.com
Secure Online Ordering & Lots of Free Info!


"Diane Mancino" wrote in message
...
I just picked up a untagged out of bloom orchid. Leaves too thin for a
catt,
but same mature height- Nice size plant for its price so I bought it. Its
nickname will be Potluck.

Question is, what if this becomes a wonderful plant and it can be
identified. Can I then put a tag on it and possibly show it? Since it was
part of a commercial shipment, I can narrow down the names to what else
the
seller brings in from the distributers next time around, and compare those
with the bloom. ( Boston flower markets)Then tag it myself. We all know
tags can be mixed up as easy as losing the tag.

I doubt I will ever need to worry about this, but it would be
disappointing
if my best orchid was a mutt I couldn't show.

.

Diane