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Opinions on Wierdest, Wildest, Most Beautiful, and Ugliest Orchid
Just a light hearted inquiry to this group from a new non-lurker.
What do you think is the wierdest, most beautiful, and ugliest orchids? How about hardest and easiest to grow, largest, smallest, rarest, most expensive. Just getting into the orchid frame of mind and would like some fun info. |
#2
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Dave,
Here is a link to "Faces only a mother could love ? Or is beauty truly in the eye of the beholder ?" http://www.orchidworks.com/orchids/rogues.html which has a few weird ones. Most beautiful is a trick question, and you will get different answers from different people. Personally I think that Vandas are the most beautiful, but I wouldn't risk trying to grow one. Of the more manageable varieties Phalaenopsis, Paphs, Miltaniopsis, Cattleyas and Dendrobiums have quite a few beautiful ones. Also I think that a group of well-chosen diverse orchids is my far more beautiful than any individual one. I find Phals and Paphs to be the easiest to grow, but not everyone agrees on that. Many of them are very commonly available and thus not expensive, plus because they are relatively common it is easy to get instructions on growing conditions. Which orchids are "easiest to grow" will depend on the grower's environment. I grow orchids on eastern and northern windowsills of an apartment/condo with supplemental lights in the Washington DC area. If I lived in southern Florida, I would could probably grow Vandas in my garden, and they could be very easy to grow then. Now if I had a greenhouse with an automated sprinkler system that could water mounted orchids once a day, then a lot of orchids that are currently hard to or impossible to grow for me might be easy. See what I mean? One thing to know is that as a rule of thumb "the most expensive orchid dies quickest" or "an orchids chances of survival are inversely proportional to the price you pay for it." :-) The rarest and the most expensive are likely to go hand in hand. Searching for most expensive orchid in Google got me the following results: http://www.newsgd.com/pictures/scenery/200501270034.htm "The orchid, which was sold for record 1.68 million yuan (US$202,000). It was cultivated by Shenzhen Nongke Group, which is engaged in agricultural science research." This link unfortunately does not specify the type of orchid, but the picture looks to me like a Cymbidium? I may be wrong on this. Now Cyms are not usually expensive, so this would have had to be a rare cross and/or a huge well-grown specimen plant (?). [Searching for the Shenzhen Nongke Group orchid in Google, I found the following: Orchids can still fetch high prices and a variegated leaf Cymbidium Golden Damo was sold for $22,000 US dollars in China this year (nearly £100,000) by the Shenzhen Nongke Group. (http://www.rhs.org.uk/news/pressrele...show040805.asp) -- this is likely the same orchid, however, there is a difference between $202,000 and $22,000 :-) ] OR http://romecentral.com/article_list_...0the%20Orchids "With regard to this, the world's most expensive orchid is Neofinettia Falcata 'Brown Bear' from Japan; it is only a few inches tall and divisions can be purchased for $75,000." Then I saw another link claiming that the most expensive orchid in the world is the Rothschild's Slipper Orchid, and in general several sites claimed that divisions of rare slipper orchids (mostly Paphs) will fetch the highest prices. Anyone have any better data on that? Searching for world's largest orchid, I found this http://www.lonker.net/travel_borneo_1.htm In the lowland hill forests is the world's largest orchid, the Tiger Orchid, Grammatophyllum speciosum, an epiphyte up to 15 feet long, weighing as much as 2 tons with yellow or cream colored flowers up to 6 in across. I am not sure whether this is indeed the largest or whether this site (which is promoting travel to Borneo) is mistaken. However, it certainly sounds like a really large orchid to me. :-) Note that the above link refers to the size of the plant. If you want to know the world's largest orchid flower, that's a different question. I look forward to other people's responses to this thread. Joanna "Dave Thompson" wrote in message ... Just a light hearted inquiry to this group from a new non-lurker. What do you think is the weirdest, most beautiful, and ugliest orchids? How about hardest and easiest to grow, largest, smallest, rarest, most expensive. Just getting into the orchid frame of mind and would like some fun info. |
#3
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I just found a few more interesting links searching for orchid "world
record": http://www.zephyrusorchids.com/worldrecord.html "In Spring of 1999, we had the good fortune of laying claim to the title of 'World's Largest Orchid Flower' as certified by the Guinness Book of World records. Paphiopedilum sanderianum 'Rapunzel' AM/AOS was grown and shown, with a stunning display of 5 flowers, each an unprecedented 88.5 cm long and displaying a total of nearly 29 feet of petals at a single flowering, by Dr. John Doherty in the summer of 1995. It has indeed flowered once more since then - and it was larger!" http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ww0601.htm Certain epiphytic orchids of the tropical rain forest produce the world's smallest seeds, up to 35 million per ounce. One seed weighs about one 35 millionths of an ounce (1/35,000,000) or 0.81 micrograms. Some seeds are only about 1/300th of an inch long (85 micrometers). [The resolving power for an unaided human eye with 20-20 vision is just under 0.1 mm.] http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2...s/1322041g.htm The tallest India orchid, Galcola falconeri, has deep yellow flowers and, would you believe it, is 5m high. Orchids of the genus Taenophyllum do not have leaves but depend on their green roots to produce food. The world record for orchids, however, is held by Malaysia's Grammatophyllum speciosum that grows to a height of 7.6m. world's smallest orchid http://www.rhs.org.uk/publications/o...monteverde.asp Platystele jungermannioides, often cited as the world's smallest orchid versus (less reliable source than RHS, but then again RHS could be wrong) http://www.travelperu.info/topicdesc.asp?ID=6 Even higher, towards the snow capped peaks of Salkantay look for Myrosmodes, the world's smallest orchid. OR http://www.pbase.com/tprice/image/18663930 Interestingly there are quite a number of tourist/travel promoting sites that claim that you can find the world's smallest orchid in Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Malaysia, or whatever other destination the site is promoting. Best, Joanna "J Fortuna" wrote in message news:XqvNe.2315$137.1461@trnddc08... Dave, Here is a link to "Faces only a mother could love ? Or is beauty truly in the eye of the beholder ?" http://www.orchidworks.com/orchids/rogues.html which has a few weird ones. Most beautiful is a trick question, and you will get different answers from different people. Personally I think that Vandas are the most beautiful, but I wouldn't risk trying to grow one. Of the more manageable varieties Phalaenopsis, Paphs, Miltaniopsis, Cattleyas and Dendrobiums have quite a few beautiful ones. Also I think that a group of well-chosen diverse orchids is my far more beautiful than any individual one. I find Phals and Paphs to be the easiest to grow, but not everyone agrees on that. Many of them are very commonly available and thus not expensive, plus because they are relatively common it is easy to get instructions on growing conditions. Which orchids are "easiest to grow" will depend on the grower's environment. I grow orchids on eastern and northern windowsills of an apartment/condo with supplemental lights in the Washington DC area. If I lived in southern Florida, I would could probably grow Vandas in my garden, and they could be very easy to grow then. Now if I had a greenhouse with an automated sprinkler system that could water mounted orchids once a day, then a lot of orchids that are currently hard to or impossible to grow for me might be easy. See what I mean? One thing to know is that as a rule of thumb "the most expensive orchid dies quickest" or "an orchids chances of survival are inversely proportional to the price you pay for it." :-) The rarest and the most expensive are likely to go hand in hand. Searching for most expensive orchid in Google got me the following results: http://www.newsgd.com/pictures/scenery/200501270034.htm "The orchid, which was sold for record 1.68 million yuan (US$202,000). It was cultivated by Shenzhen Nongke Group, which is engaged in agricultural science research." This link unfortunately does not specify the type of orchid, but the picture looks to me like a Cymbidium? I may be wrong on this. Now Cyms are not usually expensive, so this would have had to be a rare cross and/or a huge well-grown specimen plant (?). [Searching for the Shenzhen Nongke Group orchid in Google, I found the following: Orchids can still fetch high prices and a variegated leaf Cymbidium Golden Damo was sold for $22,000 US dollars in China this year (nearly £100,000) by the Shenzhen Nongke Group. (http://www.rhs.org.uk/news/pressrele...show040805.asp) -- this is likely the same orchid, however, there is a difference between $202,000 and $22,000 :-) ] OR http://romecentral.com/article_list_...0the%20Orchids "With regard to this, the world's most expensive orchid is Neofinettia Falcata 'Brown Bear' from Japan; it is only a few inches tall and divisions can be purchased for $75,000." Then I saw another link claiming that the most expensive orchid in the world is the Rothschild's Slipper Orchid, and in general several sites claimed that divisions of rare slipper orchids (mostly Paphs) will fetch the highest prices. Anyone have any better data on that? Searching for world's largest orchid, I found this http://www.lonker.net/travel_borneo_1.htm In the lowland hill forests is the world's largest orchid, the Tiger Orchid, Grammatophyllum speciosum, an epiphyte up to 15 feet long, weighing as much as 2 tons with yellow or cream colored flowers up to 6 in across. I am not sure whether this is indeed the largest or whether this site (which is promoting travel to Borneo) is mistaken. However, it certainly sounds like a really large orchid to me. :-) Note that the above link refers to the size of the plant. If you want to know the world's largest orchid flower, that's a different question. I look forward to other people's responses to this thread. Joanna "Dave Thompson" wrote in message ... Just a light hearted inquiry to this group from a new non-lurker. What do you think is the weirdest, most beautiful, and ugliest orchids? How about hardest and easiest to grow, largest, smallest, rarest, most expensive. Just getting into the orchid frame of mind and would like some fun info. |
#4
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Well, just off the top of my head, I can only comment on the most
expensive orchid. I'm sure that for any grex, some rare clone or really huge and old plant will fetch a pretty penny, but I think Phal. gigantea has got to be up there. Mature plants _regularly_ go for 500-1000 USD per plant. And there's nothing special about these plants, any Phal gigantea will do. I've read about that $202000 orchid, but that's one in a million. As for the Paph that's supposed to have the biggest orchid flower, well, that's only because it's got these really long lateral sepals. I doubt it would be first in terms of flower weight, or surface area. I do think that Phal. stuartiana takes the cake for being most floriferous, with 700+ on a plant at one time. Cheers, Xi J Fortuna wrote: I just found a few more interesting links searching for orchid "world record": http://www.zephyrusorchids.com/worldrecord.html "In Spring of 1999, we had the good fortune of laying claim to the title of 'World's Largest Orchid Flower' as certified by the Guinness Book of World records. Paphiopedilum sanderianum 'Rapunzel' AM/AOS was grown and shown, with a stunning display of 5 flowers, each an unprecedented 88.5 cm long and displaying a total of nearly 29 feet of petals at a single flowering, by Dr. John Doherty in the summer of 1995. It has indeed flowered once more since then - and it was larger!" http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ww0601.htm Certain epiphytic orchids of the tropical rain forest produce the world's smallest seeds, up to 35 million per ounce. One seed weighs about one 35 millionths of an ounce (1/35,000,000) or 0.81 micrograms. Some seeds are only about 1/300th of an inch long (85 micrometers). [The resolving power for an unaided human eye with 20-20 vision is just under 0.1 mm.] http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2...s/1322041g.htm The tallest India orchid, Galcola falconeri, has deep yellow flowers and, would you believe it, is 5m high. Orchids of the genus Taenophyllum do not have leaves but depend on their green roots to produce food. The world record for orchids, however, is held by Malaysia's Grammatophyllum speciosum that grows to a height of 7.6m. world's smallest orchid http://www.rhs.org.uk/publications/o...monteverde.asp Platystele jungermannioides, often cited as the world's smallest orchid versus (less reliable source than RHS, but then again RHS could be wrong) http://www.travelperu.info/topicdesc.asp?ID=6 Even higher, towards the snow capped peaks of Salkantay look for Myrosmodes, the world's smallest orchid. OR http://www.pbase.com/tprice/image/18663930 Interestingly there are quite a number of tourist/travel promoting sites that claim that you can find the world's smallest orchid in Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Malaysia, or whatever other destination the site is promoting. Best, Joanna "J Fortuna" wrote in message news:XqvNe.2315$137.1461@trnddc08... Dave, Here is a link to "Faces only a mother could love ? Or is beauty truly in the eye of the beholder ?" http://www.orchidworks.com/orchids/rogues.html which has a few weird ones. Most beautiful is a trick question, and you will get different answers from different people. Personally I think that Vandas are the most beautiful, but I wouldn't risk trying to grow one. Of the more manageable varieties Phalaenopsis, Paphs, Miltaniopsis, Cattleyas and Dendrobiums have quite a few beautiful ones. Also I think that a group of well-chosen diverse orchids is my far more beautiful than any individual one. I find Phals and Paphs to be the easiest to grow, but not everyone agrees on that. Many of them are very commonly available and thus not expensive, plus because they are relatively common it is easy to get instructions on growing conditions. Which orchids are "easiest to grow" will depend on the grower's environment. I grow orchids on eastern and northern windowsills of an apartment/condo with supplemental lights in the Washington DC area. If I lived in southern Florida, I would could probably grow Vandas in my garden, and they could be very easy to grow then. Now if I had a greenhouse with an automated sprinkler system that could water mounted orchids once a day, then a lot of orchids that are currently hard to or impossible to grow for me might be easy. See what I mean? One thing to know is that as a rule of thumb "the most expensive orchid dies quickest" or "an orchids chances of survival are inversely proportional to the price you pay for it." :-) The rarest and the most expensive are likely to go hand in hand. Searching for most expensive orchid in Google got me the following results: http://www.newsgd.com/pictures/scenery/200501270034.htm "The orchid, which was sold for record 1.68 million yuan (US$202,000). It was cultivated by Shenzhen Nongke Group, which is engaged in agricultural science research." This link unfortunately does not specify the type of orchid, but the picture looks to me like a Cymbidium? I may be wrong on this. Now Cyms are not usually expensive, so this would have had to be a rare cross and/or a huge well-grown specimen plant (?). [Searching for the Shenzhen Nongke Group orchid in Google, I found the following: Orchids can still fetch high prices and a variegated leaf Cymbidium Golden Damo was sold for $22,000 US dollars in China this year (nearly £100,000) by the Shenzhen Nongke Group. (http://www.rhs.org.uk/news/pressrele...show040805.asp) -- this is likely the same orchid, however, there is a difference between $202,000 and $22,000 :-) ] OR http://romecentral.com/article_list_...0the%20Orchids "With regard to this, the world's most expensive orchid is Neofinettia Falcata 'Brown Bear' from Japan; it is only a few inches tall and divisions can be purchased for $75,000." Then I saw another link claiming that the most expensive orchid in the world is the Rothschild's Slipper Orchid, and in general several sites claimed that divisions of rare slipper orchids (mostly Paphs) will fetch the highest prices. Anyone have any better data on that? Searching for world's largest orchid, I found this http://www.lonker.net/travel_borneo_1.htm In the lowland hill forests is the world's largest orchid, the Tiger Orchid, Grammatophyllum speciosum, an epiphyte up to 15 feet long, weighing as much as 2 tons with yellow or cream colored flowers up to 6 in across. I am not sure whether this is indeed the largest or whether this site (which is promoting travel to Borneo) is mistaken. However, it certainly sounds like a really large orchid to me. :-) Note that the above link refers to the size of the plant. If you want to know the world's largest orchid flower, that's a different question. I look forward to other people's responses to this thread. Joanna "Dave Thompson" wrote in message ... Just a light hearted inquiry to this group from a new non-lurker. What do you think is the weirdest, most beautiful, and ugliest orchids? How about hardest and easiest to grow, largest, smallest, rarest, most expensive. Just getting into the orchid frame of mind and would like some fun info. |
#5
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"J Fortuna" wrote in message news:XqvNe.2315$137.1461@trnddc08... Dave, Here is a link to "Faces only a mother could love ? Or is beauty truly in the eye of the beholder ?" http://www.orchidworks.com/orchids/rogues.html One of the plants I have taken an interest in are the amorphophalus voodoo lilly bulbs that produce bizarre and incredibly smelly flowers. I'm still trying to figure out a way to combine them with carniverous plants and orchids. There's no group for either specialty so I hope to get some input from the orchid group. You guys are the most versitile I have come across. |
#6
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Dave Thompson wrote: Just a light hearted inquiry to this group from a new non-lurker. What do you think is the wierdest, most beautiful, and ugliest orchids? Dendrobium unicum's flowers are definitely odd. Tangerine scented as well. The genus Bulbophyllum has to have the oddest flowers in orchidland. Some real stinkers, too- think ripe roadkill. J. Del Col |
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