Cychnoches peruviana

[Mahon]

This is very interesting... quite an odd occurance... I am now going to fool with my Catasetinae and see what it takes to get both female and male flowers... =)

-PM

 

[Greenpaph]

Mychorrhizae,

Thanks for the lesson! Great photo!

 

[Rick]

Mychorrhizae,

Thanks for the lesson! Great photo!

That is cool Thanks too!

Speaking of multi form flowers, does anyone have experience with Dimorphicus lowii? Big vandaceous species with a difficult reputation.

There are two distinct flower forms on the same plant (and sometimes same spike), but I believe they are typical bisexual orchid flowers.

 

[likespaphs]

...Speaking of multi form flowers, does anyone have experience with {Dimorphorchis lowii}?...

no, but i want to...
i didn't know it was reputedly hard to grow.
also, i thought the upper flowers were male, the lower, female or viseversa

 

[Rick]

no, but i want to...
i didn't know it was reputedly hard to grow.
also, i thought the upper flowers were male, the lower, female or viseversa

Now this is very interesting. After a google search I found 3 groups of answers.

1) There are male and female flowers. (Most of theses seem to be verbatum quotes from a single source, and most are sales adds).

2) No mention of flower sex at all.

3) Both flowers are "fertile" or hermaphroditic.(from 2 different research articles).

The research article from Kew Gardens (which I can only access small excerpts) uses vocabulary that suggests typical orchid hermaphrodism, but never plain out says it. An excerpt from an article on D. rosii by John Wood's is explicit.

Also since this genus is in the vanda group, that would be real odd to have unisex flowers.

Sounds like a bit of a debate.

As far as culture. I've heard of high losses with imports, and slow growth of established plants, and they have to be huge to flower.

I think we need to research this one more:clap:

 

[littlefrog]

I don't think both types of flowers are fertile. Cyc. barthiorum has been shown to have hermaphroditic flowers that are intergrade between male and female (those may be fertile, I don't know). I think that was published in 'Orchids' some years back. Perhaps others in that section (I think that is Eucycnoches) such as herrenhusanum, cooperi, etc, will also have similar intergrade flowers, although I don't know that I've ever seen one.

It can be difficult to distinguish between male and female flowers in the other section (if you haven't seen both kinds, anyway). That would be species like chlorochilon and warscewiczii (which are hopelessly confused in cultivation, by the way), and loddigessii. But they are sexually dimorphic.

Some species do get huge. Others, like barthiorum, cooperi, and herrenhusanum, tend to stay smaller. Although they can get big. I imported some barthiorum maybe 5 years ago that were at least two feet tall pseudobulbs. I have never been able to get one even half that tall in cultivation, and they will bloom on plants with 6-8" pseudobulbs.

I was touring with a talk on Cycnoches a few years ago, so I did a lot of research. George Carr wrote a great paper (150 years of confusion, I think it was titled), but a quick google search doesn't turn it up anymore. Maybe somebody else can find it...

 

[Rick]

Orchids Limited has selfed Dimorphorchis, but I can't find on their culture sheet any mention of the sex of the two flower types or if they selfed between or within the two flower types.

I'll email Jerry.

 

[Rick]

Jerry responded that both flowers have pollen and stigmatic surfaces, but in a mass pollination attempt it seems that a pod was set in only one combination.

He has a friend with a plant in massive spike now (I think its the same one they pollinated last time), and they are going to try various selfing combinations again. He'll keep us posted too:wink:

 

[combadao]

George Carr wrote a great paper (150 years of confusion, I think it was titled), but a quick google search doesn't turn it up anymore. Maybe somebody else can find it...

Hi

Just for the records, the link for the artcile is

http://orchidjudges.org/abs/abs001.html

All the best
Jaime