Interesting topic, I had a similar question but I guess you beat me to it :) I would like to add that it is not the entire plant that is considered dominant or recessive. Rather, it is each individual quality of the plant that is controlled by its genetic make up. Color, shape, plant size, etc, each have a set of controller genes that determine the plant's characteristics. When crossing plants, the parent's controller genes will line up and the "fight for dominance" begins. :) With seed crosses, each one of the thousands of seeds could potentially have a unique outcome of this fight for dominance. In one offspring, parent A's petal size could have dominated. But in another offspring, it could have been parent B's petal size that won. It is the breeder's hope that among these thousands of unique combinations, there will be at least one that stands out that they can consider as the final stage of breeding, or continue to use that in further crosses. Going with what Arthurm and cjwatson have stated that Enc. plicata appears to have been used in multiple crosses already, it indicates that the breeders are trying to get something desirable from this plant. Maybe they want it to contribute its flower count, or perhaps the shape of the inflorescence. I dont think there is any way of identifying orchids and indicate what traits they will impart on a cross with any level of certainty. Rather, we can only hope that it imparts the traits that we are looking for on some of the offspring - and discard the rest. We cannot say that "If orchid X is crossed with orchid Y, then parent X will always impart its color and flower size to the offspring". Given the genetic rock-paper-scissors situation, this might only be true part of the time.

Hi, Kim and Phoebe...thanks for your kind comments. Kim, the coleus is "Orange King," and I got it at Lukas. It has stayed full and fairly low...about 18" tall maybe. (I have other coleus I grow get over 3' tall and wide, but some are lower growing). This one is good for the front of the bed, and is in full sun and doing well. I've never seen it before, and hope to find it again next year. I'm going to try to make cuttings, too, though I lost 75 of those last winter. Phoebe, I had one or two things that froze to the ground but came back again (like my tibouchina, which will be another whole year before it gets as big as it was), but most things froze to the ground and died. Like my jatropha. The roots were MUSH after the freeze, and it was well established, about 4' tall and wide, with a full canopy. We were in a pocket where the cold was severe for four straight nights. Very little survived that many nights of 26 to 28 degree weather for hours on end. *sigh* But I learned a lesson. My perennials and shrubs are now cold hardy varieties which should fare better. I don't mind replacing the annuals or tender perennials, but I need SOME things to come through okay. Glad you didn't lose anything. We were hauling dead plants to the curb for a month, 5 or 6 barrels full at a time. Marcia

The inflo. And with that 'The Floof Club' rides into the sunset. I looked them all over, some nice flowers seen here. Since there are about 500,000 catt alliance hybrids I think we must start a sequel. We probably just scratched the surface. Nick

Bet you could give it away, no problem, purely because it is a species orchid. Wonder if it gets as big as an awarded Grammatophyllum scriptum where the judging panel had to visit the orchid. Perhaps that variety will stay "dwarf" From the plain to this interesting orchid grown by an Australian Native Orchid Specialist. It is visited by Native Wasps who are lured by the promise of S-X. Arthrochilus prolixus