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michigoose_gw

What does all the stuff on a label or tag mean?

michigoose
11 years ago

Labels Explained: A wealth of information appears on the plant Labels. Try to maintain these labels because plants labeled as unknown lose some of their resale valueas well as their show value. A typical label would look like this:
Blc. Memoria Crispin Rosales 'No 2' AM/AOS
Blc. Is the abbreviation for Brassavolo, Laelia, and Cattleya; the genera used in the breeding to produce this hybrid.
Memoria Crispin Rosales Is the grex (family) name used for the seedlings produced by crossing Lc. Bonanza x Blc Normans Bay. Note the use of capitals in the name to denote a hybrid. When you see Memoria in the name of a plant, it is to memorialize the person whose name follows. Usually, these are people of import or standing in the orchid world, but it can also be the name of someone important to the individual who does the naming.
'No 2' Is the clonal name for this particular seedling. (A mundane name for a beautiful flower.)
AM/AOS Denotes Award of Merit, American Orchid Society.
Other Cattleya combinations you may see on labels are:
Slc. Similar to above except that Sophronitis appears in the breeding.
Potinara. Named after Dr Potin. Genera used are Brassovolo, Laelia, Cattleya and Sophronitis.
Rolfeara. Genera used are Brassovolo, Cattleya, and Sophronitis. At least 60 of these combinations of Cattleya are used with other Genera.
Species names are written in lower case: Cattleya intermedia, Cattleya aurantiaca, Cattleya bowringiana, Cattleya mossiae etc. Natural varieties are indicated by the abbreviation var. and clonal names are enclosed within single quotes. Some examples: Cattleya intermedia var. alba , Cattleya loddigesii var. coerulea 'Blue Sky'
Natural hybrids, those hybrids which occur in the wild are indicated by an 'X' in front of the name. Example: C. X hardyana , natural hybrid of C. dowiana x C. warscewiczii.
Sometimes you will see the name of a plant x self, which means that the same plant provided pollen as well as the seed capsule. At other times, you will see the name of a plant x sib, which means it was crossed with another plant from the same compot.
Ploidy
not shown usually means 2n Diploid
(3n) triploid
(4n) tetraploid

AOS awards
HCC/AOS-Highly Commendable Certificate-75-79 points
AM/AOS-Award of Merit-80-89 points
FCC/AOS-First Class Certificate-90 points or higher
Those three are specific to flower quality, point rating based on 100 possible points.
CCM/AOS-Certificate of Cultural Merit
CCE/AOS-Certificate of Cultural Excellence
Those two are for the full plant, denoting the grower's skill in growing (and flowering) a plant to big beastly size in pristine condition.
A couple others:
CBR/AOS-Certificate of Botanical Recognition
Awarded to cultivars of species or natural hybrids deemed worthy of recognition for their rarity, novelty or educational value.
CHM/AOS-Certificate of Horticultural Merit
Awarded to species with obvious horticultural value when they appear in cultivation.
The quality awards in Australia are:
HCC High Class Certificate 75% and above
AM Award of Merit 80% and above
FCC First Class Certificate 85% and above

AD Award of Distinction....."awarded for some feature outstandingly distinctive" such as the first of those "Black Phals. to be displayed

ACC Award of Cultural Commendation
awarded for a plant that "exhibits excellence of culture"

Awarding Societies
RHS Royal Horticultural Society
AOC Australian Orchid Council
AOS American Orchid Society
TOS Thailand Orchid Society
JOS Japan Orchid Society
OSROC Orchid Society Republic of China
etc.

Medals
Bronze Medal WOC roughly = to HCC
Silver Medal WOC roughly = AM
Gold Medal WOC roughly = FCC
WOC = World Orchid Conference

Information from ArthurM, Michigoose and Orrin

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