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Rare orchid grows under Kew's nose
Hard to miss a 6ft. tall plant...
-- Reka I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way. Mark Twain (1835 - 1910) http://www.rolbox.it/hukari/index.html By Mark Prigg, Evening Standard, Science Correspondent 13 February 2004 They have spent years scouring exotic locations like Madagascar and Borneo for new species of orchids. However, Kew Gardens botanists admit their latest discovery was in one of their own greenhouses. The 6ft-high plant had been growing on a public information board in an exhibit for 13 years without the experts realising it was a new species. They have named it aeranthis virginalis, because its overlapping petals look like a woman's crossed legs. "The biggest problem is that orchids can only be identified when they are flowering - otherwise one green leaf looks pretty much like another," said Dr David Roberts, Kew's orchid expert and the man who discovered their oversight. "When we received the plant as seeds it was incorrectly identified, so it took us a while to get round to checking whether it was actually what we were told it was." The new orchid, with large translucent green flowers, is now housed in Kew's display. "We think we may have found more of them in Madagascar, so we know where they come from now," said Dr Roberts. --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.583 / Virus Database: 369 - Release Date: 10.02.04 |
#2
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Rare orchid grows under Kew's nose
"Reka" wrote in message
... snip "The biggest problem is that orchids can only be identified when they are flowering - otherwise one green leaf looks pretty much like another," said Dr David Roberts, Kew's orchid expert and the man who discovered their oversight. "When we received the plant as seeds it was incorrectly identified, so it took us a while to get round to checking whether it was actually what we were told it was." snip Reka, Fascinating article! The two paragraphs above sort of tie to the discussion we have been having in the "wild to cultivated" changes thread. I will post a reference to your post of this article in that thread in a moment. Thank you, Joanna |
#3
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Rare orchid grows under Kew's nose
Oops Reka,
I completely missed your post and linked the same article below. I gotta cut the 13 hr work days out. 'Tis a fascinating story all the same. Best, Matthew. "Reka" wrote in message ... Hard to miss a 6ft. tall plant... -- Reka I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way. Mark Twain (1835 - 1910) http://www.rolbox.it/hukari/index.html By Mark Prigg, Evening Standard, Science Correspondent 13 February 2004 They have spent years scouring exotic locations like Madagascar and Borneo for new species of orchids. However, Kew Gardens botanists admit their latest discovery was in one of their own greenhouses. The 6ft-high plant had been growing on a public information board in an exhibit for 13 years without the experts realising it was a new species. They have named it aeranthis virginalis, because its overlapping petals look like a woman's crossed legs. "The biggest problem is that orchids can only be identified when they are flowering - otherwise one green leaf looks pretty much like another," said Dr David Roberts, Kew's orchid expert and the man who discovered their oversight. "When we received the plant as seeds it was incorrectly identified, so it took us a while to get round to checking whether it was actually what we were told it was." The new orchid, with large translucent green flowers, is now housed in Kew's display. "We think we may have found more of them in Madagascar, so we know where they come from now," said Dr Roberts. --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.583 / Virus Database: 369 - Release Date: 10.02.04 |
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