Agreed Eric, but why are these then considered conspecific by Kew yet Jay
considers them to be different species. If you ignore colour they sure look
alike, so does that mean that Kew is correct?

John


"Eric Hunt" wrote in message
news
John,

Color is typically not considered when identifying orchid species. In
fact, many taxonomists work from reconstituted pressed materials or spirit
preserved flowers.

Each method of preservation does not preserve color - only the morphologic
structure of the flower. Things like the shape, position, and number of
calli and other bug-scale features are used to distinguish one species
from another.

For most orchids, especially epiphytes, the primary pollinator is an
insect. These bumps, ridges, and other features serve to guide the insect
to the target: pollination.

Insects also see in different wavelengths than humans, so the colors we
see are not the colors an insect sees.

That means one must look at a flower in black and white to identify it to
species.

-Eric

"John Varigos" wrote in message
om...
Two Trichocentrum plants were benched at the meeting. The one with a
yellow marked labellum was labelled Trichocentrum pulchrum. The one with
the red marked labellum was labelled Trichocentrum brandtiae. They
looked quite distinct. On checking the names on the Kew Monocots page,
they list Trichocentrum brandtiae as a synonym of Trichocentrum pulchrum.
Jay Pfahl has them as separate species. What do others think? Are they
really the same species? Who would want to be a taxonomist?

This species is found from Venezuela through to Peru.

--
John Varigos
Melbourne, Australia
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