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Old 06-02-2004, 07:20 AM
J Fortuna
 
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Default wild to cultivated changes?

This is not off topic even though the beginning may sound like it is, so
please bear with me:

I recently heard that when wolves are tamed, one of the side-effects of
taming is that their fur turns a lighter color. I forget exactly what the
explanation was, but I think it was something like the same chemical
substance being responsible for anxiety/fear/wildness in character as well
as darkness of fur.

Leap in thinking from wolves to orchid plants ...

This made me wonder about some of the effects that cultivation has on orchid
species.

I would guess that a cultivated orchid species might grow bigger and live
longer than its wild counterpart of the same species, etc. That at least
would seam logical to me, since the cultivated species are likely to be
fertilized more regularly, and the environment is more likely to be adjusted
to be closer to ideal conditions than might occur in nature, if the grower
knows what they are doing. Also I know that plants within the species won't
be exactly the same, and the orchid grower might decide to cross two orchids
that are in the same species and share some trait that does not occur in all
orchids of this species to try to promote this trait which might have gotten
lost in the wild (where natural selection or chance might have caused this
trait to not be propagated).

Any other ideas? Either based on your experience, your knowledge, or your
hypothesizing on this subject?

I would be interested in finding out more. I wonder if there are any effects
that cultivation has had on orchid species that are less obvious/logical
(similar to the lightening of fur in wolves, which I would never have
guessed if I had not learned about it).

Are there any good examples of orchids where the same species in cultivation
tends to be quite different in some significant way from its wild
counterpart?

Thanks,
Joanna


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Old 06-02-2004, 07:20 AM
Al
 
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Default wild to cultivated changes?

with regard to wolfs, cats and dogs, a word to learn about is neoteny. Used
with domestic cats and dogs the idea is that adult cats and dogs retain a
lot of personality traits common only to the puppies and kittens of similar
wild species. I guess it has made them easier to handle over the long
generations they have been associating with people. I saw a science show on
the Discovery channel once when I couldn't find a channel showing Star Trek
reruns.

Big subject with regard to orchid species judging. A lot of wild orchids
can't hold a candle to their line-bred cousins in captivity with regard to
judging standards. Judges are taught to consider the species normal habit
when judging it, but the process can almost not help but include certain
pre-judgments of what a beautiful flower looks like. Flame me, it's okay.
I can handle it.

"Orchids that have been bred in captivity for generations grow better in
pots than wild ones." That's quote but not mine. :-) Smart breeders do
not use plants for breeding if they are prone to disease, so one would think
that domestic populations that are generations old might be more disease
resistant. On the other hand, the environment we provide for them is so
protected that one would also thing they would not live long if some well
meaning person were to repatriate them into their native habitat.

I'll bet you get lots of replies to this topic.

Al
ne·ot·e·ny
NOUN:1. Retention of juvenile characteristics in the adults of a species. 2.
The attainment of sexual maturity by an organism still in its larval stage.


J Fortuna" wrote in message
...
This is not off topic even though the beginning may sound like it is, so
please bear with me:

I recently heard that when wolves are tamed, one of the side-effects of
taming is that their fur turns a lighter color. I forget exactly what the
explanation was, but I think it was something like the same chemical
substance being responsible for anxiety/fear/wildness in character as well
as darkness of fur.

Leap in thinking from wolves to orchid plants ...

This made me wonder about some of the effects that cultivation has on

orchid
species.

I would guess that a cultivated orchid species might grow bigger and live
longer than its wild counterpart of the same species, etc. That at least
would seam logical to me, since the cultivated species are likely to be
fertilized more regularly, and the environment is more likely to be

adjusted
to be closer to ideal conditions than might occur in nature, if the grower
knows what they are doing. Also I know that plants within the species

won't
be exactly the same, and the orchid grower might decide to cross two

orchids
that are in the same species and share some trait that does not occur in

all
orchids of this species to try to promote this trait which might have

gotten
lost in the wild (where natural selection or chance might have caused this
trait to not be propagated).

Any other ideas? Either based on your experience, your knowledge, or your
hypothesizing on this subject?

I would be interested in finding out more. I wonder if there are any

effects
that cultivation has had on orchid species that are less obvious/logical
(similar to the lightening of fur in wolves, which I would never have
guessed if I had not learned about it).

Are there any good examples of orchids where the same species in

cultivation
tends to be quite different in some significant way from its wild
counterpart?

Thanks,
Joanna




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