Ha! That's right! The lightning bug DNA cut into a Vanda's DNA.
Supposedly increased the fluorescence of the color. The prof who made the
cross sold the plant for bucoup bucks on eBay

K Barrett

"Wendy7" wrote in message
...
This is all way above my head, Kathy. Heck I'm have trouble with the math
ratio of a Hozon Siphon!
But reading your post made me think of that "Glow in the dark" story on
orchids. Do you remember it?
Not sure if that was for real either.
Cheers Wendy
"K Barrett" wrote in message
. ..
Speaking of species, recently we had an assignment on creating
'amphidiploids' and using them in a theorectical hybridizing project.

Thank god I had a few contacts through the internet to help me
learn/understand what an amphidiploid is. Not that I ever truly grasped
much of what they were telling me. My pea-brain interpreted an
amphidiploid as a polyploid or 4n plant, which is a gross
oversimplification of the term and concept.

Anyway, Marilyn Light passed along this URL about polyploid evolution
that I found interesting. In it the author quotes Soltis and Soltis who
(I believe I'm reading this right) are researching the idea that way back
at the beginning of angiosperms, flowering plants had very few
chromosomes (4? 8?) and that, in nature, improper gametogenesis happens
much more frequently than we think is does. Leading to a higher
production rate of polyploids than previously understood. And, as we all
know, the "4n" plants out-compete the '2n' plants. Therefore they posit
that present day flowering plants with their present day chromosome
numbers are the result of millenia of natural polyploid selection.
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~mbhat...yevolution.pdf

I'm not sure if that's the same as the 'first flower' idea that a
different group is chasing down, the same way researchers at Berkeley
chased down 'Eve' using mitichondrial/extra-nuclear DNA.

But its interesting.

K Barrett

In case you wondered, my theotectical project involved putting Laelia
lundii onto either B. cucullata, Soph. cernua or L alaorii in order to
capitalize on that great lip. Selfing the most interesting ones,
treating with colchicine to create the amphidiploid, then putting that on
some of Granier's large floofy blue orchds (whch have to be 4n by now) or
continuing with small orchids for the hobby greenhouse by putting it onto
L (Brazilia?) sincorana 4n etc.

See how we waste our time? LOL!!


"K Barrett" wrote in message
...
Let's not be a species snob, John. Buy the orchid if you like it. *G*

K Barrett

"John Varigos" wrote in message
om...
Thanks Niek, Kathy and Eric for the help in IDing this one. I am
devastated that this is not a species because it is so nice.

Cheers

John

"Eric Hunt" wrote in message
...
John,

Eric Christenson says it's a hybrid, possibly falcata x flabellata.

-Eric in SF
www.orchidphotos.org

"John Varigos" wrote in message
om...
Does anyone know the real name of this species? The name on the
label is not recognised by Kew. The grower says that it came from
Thailand. The colours are quite lovely and I would love one of these
but not sure what I should be ordering.
~John