John,
Thanks for your encouragement.

On Dec 28, 8:35*am, "John Varigos"
wrote:
Pax

As everyone has said, it would be a massive project as there are somewhere
between 25- 30000+ species.

Yes, I agree. It is relatively easy to build search application. It
is much harder to collect information that drives the application.
That is where intellectual property really is.


But there is a use for a searchable database based on floral
characteristics. *When I have gone into the field in Australia, Asia and
Europe photographing orchids, there are often ones that I can't ID. They
don't come with labels in the jungle, bush or fields. *This necessitates
many hours searching references and e-mailing friends and colleagues. *I
would certainly find a searchable database useful to help narrow down the
search for a name.

This is exactly what I have in mind. But the search engine is as good
as the underlying data. So to be of real use by professional like
you, it should run against a database that is trusted by
professionals. So I think K Barrett's suggestion is very appropriate.

A few authoritative sites for plant names are Kew monocotshttp://apps.kew..org/wcsp/home.do, International Plant Names Indexhttp://www.ipni.org/and Missouri Botanical Garden Tropicos siteshttp://www.tropicos.org/

You would need to get written authorisation from all photographers to use
their photos. Another huge task.

Good luck and as Diana said, do try a few more orchids but chose the more
hardy ones suitable to your conditions to start with.

Looks like the majority of response suggested I should reconsider
growing orchids. :-)
I still don't trust my thumb is green enough. I will just enjoy
orchids that grew wild on my property though.

The first one I found 6-7 years ago was Cypripedium acaule - they grew
in the wild in the remote part of my property in Maryland. I spotted
3-4 of them while hiking in my backyard. I was very careful not to
disturb them in anyway. I did go back to observe them but they too,
seem to disappear.

I also found white orchids grow in late fall. They don't seem to have
any chlorophyll. Just white stalk sprung from under dried leaves.
It has white tiny nodding flowers. I search Wikipedia and the closest
resemblance I found was "Cephalanthera austiniae".

Thanks,
pax







~John