SOUTHERN ONTARIO ORCHID SOCIETY NEWS September 2012, Volume 47, Issue 8

Web site: www.soos.ca ; Member of the Canadian Orchid Congress; Affiliated with the American Orchid Society, the Orchid Digest and the International Phalaenopsis Alliance. Membership: Annual Dues $30 per calendar year (January 1 to December 31 ). Surcharge $15 for newsletter by postal service. Membership secretary: Marilyn Crompton, #1908-21 Overlea Blvd., Toronto ON M4H 1P2, phone 416-467- 0018 Promenea Chameleon 'Rhys' AM-AOS by Mario and Conni Ferrusi photo PP Executive: President, Yvonne Schreiber, 905-473-3405; Vice- president Laura Liebgott, 905-883-5290; Secretary, Sue Meeting Sunday, Loftus 905-839-8281; Treasurer, John Vermeer, 905-823- September 2, 2516 Other Positions of Responsibility: Program, Mario Ferrusi; Toronto Botanical Plant Doctor, Doug Kennedy; Meeting Set up, Tom Atkinson; Garden, Sales at Vendor and Sales table coordinator, Diane Ryley; Membership, Marilyn Crompton, Eric Terreau, Karen noon, program at 1 Hazelton; Web Master, Max Wilson; Newsletter, Peter and pm. Speaker: Ron Mc Inge Poot; Annual Show, Peter Poot; Refreshments, Joe Hatton, PhD. Ron is currently O’Regan. Conservation Committee, Susan Shaw, Tom the head of administration at Atkinson; Show table, Iryna Bonya. the American Orchid Society. Honorary Life Members: Terry Kennedy, Doug Kennedy, Inge Ron has been an orchid Poot, Peter Poot, Joe O’Regan, Diane Ryley, Wayne Hingston. personality for many many Annual Show: February 16 – 17, 2013 years. He is well known around the world for his many

excellent lectures and articles and his tireless dedication to the well being of the orchid world. Ron will be talking to us on Orchid Pests and Diseases, a subject we can all relate to and one that Ron is sure to give a new twist.

This newsletter is two weeks early for a reason. Our June speaker, Jason Fischer of Orchids Limited will be attending the Fraser Valley Orchid Society Show in British Columbia on October 19th to 21st. He has offered to accept orders from here in Ontario that he will then ship from B.C. to the Kennedys here. The rules and conditions for this opportunity are set out in the President’s message. Also Sam Tsui from Orchid Inn will be visiting Toronto September 1 and the Montreal Show October 13-14. He too is willing to bring plant orders for us. Orders must be to him by August 19th. Please respect the deadlines. You must arrange to pick up the orders.

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President’s Remarks Fellow orchid aficionados: For those of you who like the heat, Talk to me at a meeting; e-mail me at this has certainly been a spectacular summer. [email protected], or phone me at The only thing that has been missing for “we 905-473-3405. gardeners” (and for all the farmers) has been rain.  Yvonne Schreiber Orchidfest took place on August 5th. Phil Coming Events Spence was a stellar speaker and the potluck, as August usual, was scrumptious. Thanks go out to 18. MJC judging, JBMtl. 10 am everyone who brought a dish to share and to September those who helped to organize the feast. 1, Toronto Centre judging 1 pm at the The Social Break will resume at the September Toronto Botanical Garden 2nd meeting. The letters of the month for September will be last names that start with the 2, SOOS meeting Toronto Botanical Garden, letters N – R. We are asking anyone whose last sales 12 noon, program 1 pm name starts with this letter to bring in a treat to 15. MJC judging, JBMtl. 10 am share. These treats should be finger foods only 29-30 Central Ontario Orchid Society Show i.e. something that can be picked up with your fingers and does not require a plate or fork. On the topic of comments presented at the Town Hall Forum, a request was made for a wider variety of for sale. Jason Fischer from Orchids Limited was our guest speaker at the June meeting. You had the opportunity to pre-order plants and Jason also brought plants to sell at the meeting. Jason grows a wide range of genera. Now that you have had a taste of what he grows, perhaps you are interested in acquiring more. Jason will be attending the Fraser Valley Orchid Society Show in British Columbia on October 19th to 21st. I am sure that the folks there would like to see you, but if travelling to B.C. is not in your plans, there is another option. Jason is willing to bring pre- ordered plants to the show and ship them to us in Ontario. There would be a 15% handling fee in addition to the prices on Jason’s website. The plants would all be shipped to the Kennedys for pick up and distribution. The deadline to order plants on Appendix I

(Paphiopedilums and Phragmipediums) is August 20th. The deadline for plants on Appendix II (all other plants) is September 24th. October Each individual places their own order and 6, Toronto Centre judging 1 pm at the makes their payment directly to Jason. To alert Toronto Botanical Garden Jason that your order is part of the pre-order for SOOS, in the “Special Instructions Field” 7, SOOS meeting Toronto Botanical Garden, indicate “SOOS Pre-order”. Jason’s website is sales 12 noon, program 1 pm www.orchidweb.com. Happy shopping. 13, Ecos Show Montreal, MJC judging 2

Hybridizing for white Phragmipediums: Crossing the tiny round white with a pink lip Phrag schlimii with Phrag longifolium, a species with long twisted , gives the famous Phrag Sedenii. (A lot of mix-up has occurred because a plant labelled Phrag sedenii was probably a Phrag. Sedenii crossed back onto Phrag. schlimii, in other words a Phrag Cardinale. However I suppose such a result could have been obtained by sibbing a Phrag Sedenii, since the progeny of such a cross could have almost any characteristic of either of the two species in its make-up yet would still be a Phrag Sedenii.) The typical Phrag Sedenii is white with a rose- pink lip. The petals are twisted and in good clones quite wide. Phrag schlimii breeding is one avenue to white Phrags. Phrag Hanne Popow flavum a cross of besseae flavum X schlimii produces almost white flowers with just a few pink flushes. Sibbing two of the whitest clones will get some white progeny. Phrag St Ouen flavum (Hanne Popow flavum – 27, RBG Show and COC meeting white with palest pink X besseae flavum - yellow)is not only a route to some white Phrags, but their 3N cross produced a veritable rainbow of colours in lovely pastels. AOS Judging Results Another route to white Phrags is by crossing Please note, all of these awards are provisional Phrag pearcii X Phrag Saint Ouen flavum to get until published by the American Orchid Society the often white Phrag Ice Princess. Toronto Centre Judging July 7, Hybridizing for pastel colours: (I bolded the Promenea Norman Gaunt ‘Marsh Hollow’, best crosses only) HCC-AOS 79 points. Mario and Conni There are many crosses made that result in very Ferrusi similar pastel coloured Phrags. If they don’t contain Phrag schlimii then their petals are all Promenea Chameleon ‘Rhys’, AM-AOS 82 fairly slender. Examples were Phrag Franz points, Mario and Conni Ferrusi Glanz flavum (besseae flavum X richteri), Phrag Promenea Ben Berliner ‘Marsh Hollow’ Olaf Gruss flavum (besseae flavum X pearcei), AM-AOS 80 points, Joyce Medcalf. Phrag Lutz Rolke flavum (besseae flavum X Neofinetia falcata ‘Nanyounishiki’ JC-AOS, boisserianum), Dr. Leslie Ee. Phrag Dreamsicle (Robert Palm flavum X Jason Fischer)-this cross is large: 13-14cm. The Note! The next regular judging will be held at the clone shown had pale orange flowers and a TBG on September 1 at 1 pm. AOS Judging is shape like a less full P. Don Wimber. a service of the American Orchid Society and is Phrag Patty Whack flavum (Robert Palm flavum open to all! Bring us your flowering orchids. We X longifolium) shape is mostly longifolium and need the practice. the colour is more delicate than either parent. Phrag Robin Redbreast flavum (Robert Palm flavum X besseae flavum) can produce very flat Breeding and Culture by flowers with quite wide petals and in very Jason Fischer of Orchids Limited, part 2 delicate colours, the clone shown had pale (transcribed by Inge Poot from a June 3, 2012 yellow colour with delicate pink shading on the talk to SOOS) continued from the Summer petals. issue. 3

Phrag Golden Beryl (Robert Palm flavum X graceful tall stems with a pink flower showing a wallisii) takes the wallisii shape and the Robert widened longifolium form. Palm flavum colour. Phrag Foolerisch, (April Fool X fischeri) resulted Phrag Icho Tower flavum (Beauport X besseae in a nice full flower with the lilac tones of fischeri flavum) results in some quite full, flat pastel intensified to deep red- pink. flowers. A peachy orange Jason Fischer was Phrag Asuko Fischer (Jason Fischer X fischeri) used, since you cannot get a flavum Jason seems lovely. The clone shown was deep red, Fischer. had wide pointy petals whose lower half let a bit Phrag Desormes (Hanne Popow flavum X of white peek through. The flower was about Sorceror’s Apprentice) produces surprisingly full 11cm in natural spread! Impressive! They chose flowers with arching petals, all in deep rose and a promising cross to name after Asuko! pale pink. One had white flowers, but it died. However, Jason has a sneaky suspicion, that the plant shown is suffering from a case of Breeding with Phrag fischeri: mixed up labels – hopefully this is not so! Phrag fischeri is closely related to Phrag Phrag Kelley Nash (P. Eric Young X fischeri) schlimii. It has more pink colour than the latter resulted in something close to P. Sedenii. species. The distinguishing characteristic are hairs on the pouch of Phrag fischeri. The two Phrag Autumn Fire (P. Eric Young(4n) X P. forms shown in the programme were one all Barbara LeAnn) allowed for more recombination rose pink and the other rose pink with a large of traits. The clone shown had two flowers open, central white patch in each . The very round and full and the colour going from contrasting white staminode with two deep almost white in the centre to deep pink at the purple dots can be absent in which case the edges. The lip was red-pink with a white rim. plant is rapidly self-pollinating. Because it tends Phrag Beverly Fischer (P. St Ouen X P. fischeri) to self-pollinate it is usually best to use it as the gave a plant with larger flowers in a redder pollen parent to make sure you actually get a fischeri colour scheme. cross and not a selfing! But since it was named after the Fischer family, they have explored all of Phrag Pink Panther (schlimii X fischeri) resulted its breeding potential! in something like a more deeply coloured fischeri. Phrag Barbara LeAnn (besseae X fischeri) can produce delightfully round flowers with much Phrag Purple Wave (P. Mem Dick Clements X better colour than P. Hanna Popov. Jason fischeri) resulted in a deep red quite full flower. showed us a nice round red clone and one of a The rim of the pouch was white with deep red deep red-pink and the lower half of the petals dots. white as in some fischeri clones. Trying to Phrag Vyonne Fay Wilson (P. lindleyanum X P. increase the flower size by crossing P. Barbara fischeri) has nice dark red colour, but at best LeAnn with Phrag longifolium resulted in Phrag lindleyanum shape. Waunakee Doll with at least one charming offspring with gracefully twisted petals of light Another hohum cross Phrag Mardi Gras, was pink with a darker pink picotee and the dark pink Phrag braziliensis (a quietly charming species, repeated on the pouch. Now if the less intensely olive green flowers with twisted, narrow, down- pink dorsal had been straight instead of twisted turned, red-tipped petals. Some taxonomists this would have been a real winner! Crossing it think it may be a natural hybrid of P. pearcii and back onto fischeri gives P. Ryoko Urabe, the P. boisserianum) crossed with P. fischeri. It clone shown was a full, round deep pink with the looked like a Sedenii with down-turned petals... distal portion of the petals and dorsal changing abruptly to white. Backcrossing Barbara LeAnn unto besseae results in Phrag. Waunakee Sunset and the resulting clone shown was a round deep pink. The Phragmipedium caudatum complex: Crosses involving Phrag Lynn Evans-Goldner This complex had a lot of recent name changes (P. schlimii X P. Barbara LeAnn) seem less and has now settled down to 5 distinct species if successful. you listen to the splitters (Braem, Ohlund & Quene, 2004) and three species with two Phrag Mem Estelle Getty (P. longifolium X P. varieties, if you listen to the lumpers (Cribb, fischeri) was illustrated with a plant that had 2005). All have nodding dorsals and variously long petals. 4

They all agree that the three species Phrag Noteworthy is the cross of Phrag Beverly caudatum, Phrag lindenii and Phrag Fischer X Grande with the clone shown having exstaminodium are distinct species. However, charming rose pink and cream flowers with Cribb places Phrag wallisii, now renamed vertically held, spiralling petals. Phrag warscewiczianum as a variety of Phrag Phragmipedium kovachii : lindenii. He also feels Phrag popowii is a variety of Phrag exstaminodium. (Do not mix up Phrag How this giant rose pink phrag could have been warscewiczianum with Phrag warscewiczii, as missed for so long is quite a mystery! As soon this latter species is now called Phrag popowii as hybridizers saw it they began to hope for or Phrag exstaminodium var. popowii) huge full and colourful progeny from it and all the roadblocks put in place to stop importation Because the breeding characteristics of the two and stripping it completely from its native varieties are different from those of the typical Peruvian habitat only accomplished the former species, the Fischers prefer to go along with the result!!! Lets hope it will be re-introduced into the splitters and thus be able to predict breeding wild from cultivated plants. outcomes from the name of the cross. Also the lindenii, normal variety and exstaminodum, Now to the less desirable traits of the species: normal variety, are anything but normal. They The species tends to self-pollinate. Therefore it are derived from their (normal) varieties, but the laws of priority being what they are, we end up should only be the pollen parent. with a close to nonsense situation! It is just as slow to reach blooming size as Paphiopedilum rothschildianum that is a Phrag caudatum has the longest petals of the minimum of 6 years! However the hybrids do not complex. If the petals do not encounter a solid inherit that trait. surface while elongating, they can reach one meter in length. It takes four months from the formation of the Phrag. lindenii has three petals and no pouch. sheath for the flower to open. There is a third pollinarum on the back of the The flowers last two weeks and grow the entire staminodal shield and therefore these plants are time that they are open. instantly self-pollinating. They obviously survived by this chance mutation in an area where their As a result of this continuous growth, the colour pollinator is absent. thins out in spots and you get the dreaded colour breaks in virtually all flowers of all plants. Phrag exstaminodium as the name implies lacks a staminodial shield and again this species is Another negative aspect of this growth after self-pollinating. In hybrids both it and Phrag opening is that the flower shape changes –not popowii do not pass on their dark pouch colour for the better! The flowers are best on day 5 and and the petals of their hybrids tend to have thereafter the petals start to reflex and twist in a “shoulders”. most unattractive way. An example is the cross Phrag Stairway to Line breeding was started as soon as possible Heaven (popowii X warscewiczianum). The and the Fischers now have the clone ‘Tesoro progeny are light coloured. Morado’ that stays flat, does not have colour breaks and also blooms twice a year! The dorsal Phrag Mini Grande is noteworthy, because the and synsepal are held in such a way that they small stature of its Phrag pearcei parent is prevent the normal reflexing after day 5. preserved over the other, the Phrag Grande Another good clone is Glen Decker’s parent. Since both have dark pouches, the ‘Purpliscious’ progeny do too. Naturally they try to use this clone as much as Trying to get larger red Phrags by using these possible in their hybrids and plan to redo many species does not live up to expectations! twisted hybrids with this clone and hopefully get nicer results. One such hybrid in need of redoing Using Phrag Red Lightning (P. sargentianum X is Phrag schlimii X Phrag kovachii, Phrag P. popowii –a singularely mis-named cross, Eumelia Arias. It produces dusty pink flowers since it took 10 years to reach flowering size) and crossing it with Phrag Mem. Dick Clements, Phrag Fritz Schomburg, Phrag besseae X ...) gives the very floriferous and nice shiny red kovachii looks like a Phrag Don Wimbur on Phrag Flash Gordon, but the size is only steroids! The besseae contributes colour and minimally increased over the Mem Dick the kovachii the size. They even found one Clements. clone whose flowers lasted 5 weeks. 5

A similar cross is Phrag Peruflora Cirila Alca, Phrag Incan Treasure, P. longifolium X kovachii Phrag delassandroi X kovachii. It is not as full as with white and rose pink flowers with curved the above cross and the flowers of the clone down petals that have rolled edges. shown were a light rose pink. Phrag La Vingtaine, kovachii X Mem Dick Phrag Suzanne Decker (Phrag Cape Sunset X Clements was illustrated with a deep red-pink kovachii) looks great on day two to three and flower, whose only real fault was a drooping after that- oh dear! Jason plans to redo it with dorsal. the ‘Tesoro Morado’ clone! Phrag Peruflora’s Spirit, kovachii X Eric Young, Phrag Alfredo Manrique seems a promising can be variable from nice flat light orange to pale cross that recurves very little –at least in the pink , recurved every which way, plus colour clones shown! It is Phrag Walter Schomburg X breaks! kovachii and most clones are red and have full Phrag Frank Smith (kovachii X Grande) was form. illustrated with a large pink flower with flat, down and inward curving petals. Quite different! Culture Water: Low –solute water is a must. Rain-water, distilled water or water de-ionized by passing through a suitable membrane, are all fine. Growing media: 1. Many people grow this genus successfully in straight diatomite, which is diatomaceous earth not ground into powder but chopped into chunks. Use medium grade. They are grown semi-hydroponically in a saucer of water and the Photo from AQplus water is changed every 3-4 days. Phrag Peruflora’s Angel, Phrag. richteri X The Ebb and Flow Tray method works the best. kovachii represents a skeleton in Peruflora’s A bubbler should be put into the water reservoir closet. The flower picture submitted to get the to make sure the water bathing the roots is name registered looks nothing like a kovachii highly oxygenated. Change the water in the hybrid, but like a Phrag Franz Glanz.... reservoir(Buckrt) every 2-3 weeks. In the wild the plants experience water seeping past their Phrag Andean Tears is quite different. It is a roots 24 hours per day, but in the Ebb and Flow cross of Phrag wallisii (lindenii var. bench one hour per day is sufficient. Other warscewiczianum) and kovachii. The white and media that can be used are Aloflor, clay pellets pale lilac flowers have frilled down-swept petals. and expanded rock. The flowers look massive. If you have problems with blasted buds, you Phrag Glen Decker (Jason Fischer X kovachii) may have to switch to an Ebb and Flow system. is a nice deep pink –not red. Another clone had luminous light pink flowers of quite round form. 2. The other way is to grow them in bark mix, in pots with holes. Be sure to keep the medium wet Phrag Haley Decker (St Ouen X kovachii) was from top to bottom. illustrated with an intense flat rose pink flower with less of a tendency for colour breaks. To the bark add Miracle Grow (for house-plants) 60% Phrag Suzanne Decker (Cape Sunset X kovachii) is similar to the above, but tends to Orchidata bark 20% have a white centre. Grid-sized diatomite 20% Some less exciting crosses: Phrag kovachii X Add some limestone once per month lindleyanum (very curled petals) Other growing media are : Phrag Peruflora’s Saltimbanco (czerwiakowianum X kovachii) is pink and white Rockwool with a natural pH of 7 it lasts a very with long, curled petals. long time. They use Grodan Grow cubes, which are about ½ centimeter cubes of rockwool

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New Zealand Sphagum mixed with perlite can million years ago, allowing plants and animals work, but plants grown in it may get Erwinia rot. on the island to evolve in complete isolation. Temperature: Keep at intermediate The people inhabiting the island originally came temperatures. If kept too cool they rot from Indonesia, Malaysia and Africa. The country counts about 20 million people, 70% of Light: Seedlings grow best in low light of 200- them live on 1 dollar a day, and have a gross 400fc domestic product of 438 USD (in 2009). Adults: Give them a 600-700fc peak in the Sources of income are mainly tourism, daytime. You might have to use LED lights to agriculture (using ancestral methods and stop slow-down of growth when light levels get practices, such us slash and burn agriculture, too low. pasturage, etc), and mining. For straight Phrag kovachii make sure the pH of The resources are mismanaged and the water used is between 6 and 7. Also when transparency and good governance are lacking the container the pots sit in gets full of algae, in politics. scrub it.

Fertilizer: Biodiversity is rich for both plants and animals. Orchids Limited uses a 10-10-10 fertilizer Talking about biodiversity, Madagascar is known Some Tips: for its rich and unique biodiversity and is considered one of the 34 biodiversity hotspots in Pot the plants so the medium the crown sits in is the world. It has 14,883 vascular plants, of which a little higher than the edges of the pot. It keeps the most common are in the genus the crown drier and prevents rot. Pachypodium in the family Didieraceae. To colchicines- treat a flask the colchicine is left There are over 300 species of birds and 60% of in for 24 hours, then the medium is changed. them are endemic (this means that they do not Handle this chemical with extreme care as it is occur elsewhere). cancer catalyst. Madagascar is home to about half the world’s To be successful in getting a seed pod, make 150 species of chameleon. The example shown sure your mother plant is mature enough and in was the miniature species Brookesia micra a excellent health. Otherwise the pod may abort or specimen of which looked a bit scared but contain no viable seed or the plant may die. perched comfortably on the business end of a matchstick! Phylogeny of in All 651 species of terrestrial snails are endemic Madagascar, by Tahiana Over 100 species of fish are found around the island. Andriananjamanantsoa, transcribed by Inge Poot from notes supplied by Terry Over 100 species of Lemurs call Madagascar Kennedy and Jean Ikeson “home”. Here our speaker showed an adorable tiny species Microcoebus bertae which looked like a tiny brown bushy-tailed squirrel with huge This talk was in the nature of a progress report black eyes. To then see dried lemur meat for on Tahiana’s thesis undertaken at the university sale is quite shocking. of Montreal and partially funded by SOOS via Madagascar is really rich in natural resources. In the SOOS Conservation Committee. 2015 the country is expecting to produce Madagascar is an island 249 miles off the S-E 750,000 to 2 million tonnes of ilmenite a year coast of Africa and it has the distinction of being (ilmenite is a magnetic titanium-iron oxide the fourth largest island in the world, with an area of 228,900 square miles. The prehistoric breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana separated the Madagascar-Antarctica-India landmass from the Africa-South America landmass around 135 million years ago. Madagascar later split from India about 88

7 mineral), that’s 42% of the world production. is the second largest family of vascular plants in Madagascar, with approximately 57 genera and more than 1,200 species. 90% are endemic. When compared to Costa Rica with its approximately 150 genera and about 1500 species this is quite impressive. An attempt was made in Ranomafana, NP, on the S-E part of Madagascar, to re-introduce artificially propagated species to the wild. 360 seedlings were reintroduced in 2005. About 30% survived so far. Unfortunately the program was abandoned in 2007, when they lost the services of their guide. The project under way now involves field sampling various, usually inaccessible spots. There were 10 locations sampled in 2007 and 5 more are planned for 2012. GPS was used to fix the exact positions. Local guides had to be used since the terrain was difficult and the weather worse! Cyclones are not a rarity!. So far about 600 samples have been taken, each recorded for posterity with a photograph and its GPS location. The genus Angraecum belongs in the sub-tribe Angraecinae, which in turn is included in the tribe located in the sub-family. The genus contains over 200 species, of which over 150 are found in Madagascar. Of the 46 African species Angraecum leonis 'Jenny's Moonbeam' CCM-AOS photo six are are found in Madagascar as well. from AQplus The Vandeae tribe contains 4 sub-tribes and of these Canadian companies are the first in terms of the sub-tribe Angraecinae (with 15 genera of 360 direct investment in mining in the country (Rio Tinto in ilmenite and Sherritt in nickel and species) together with the sub-tribe Aerangidinae (32 cobalt). Saphire is another ore - mined in open genera containing 330 species) are referred to as the pits. Angraecoids. You can tell the two sub-trbes of the Angraecoids apart by the structure of the rostellum Slash and burn agriculture (tavy) and wild fire (the structure that separates the pollinia from the (used as a form of protest!) constitute a scourge in Madagascar, responsible for approximately stigmatic surface) and by the structure of the pollinia. 494,210 acres natural habitat loss every year. Angraecinae rostellums are pairs of large flaps, while Species are being driven to extinction and many those of Aerangidinae are just one or two skinny are under threat. On top of this, mining and teeth. Angraecinae pollinia have short stipes and illegal cutting aggravate the situation. As a generally large sticky pads at the end of the stipes(or result, over 80% of the natural habitats are stems), while Aerangidinae pollinia have long stipes gone, the remaining forest is fragmented and the and generally smaller sticky pads (called viscidiums). wild population is endangered. Only 10% of the DNA analysis and the resulting “Cladograms” using forest is still continuous and that is a strip all two spots on the DNA of the energy carrying along the east coast organelle showed that the Angraecinae sub-tribe is In 2009, more than 50,000 tons of tropical actually in two fairly strongly separated sections with hardwoods were taken from Madagascar’s the subtribe Aerangidinae placed right between the forests and more than $200 million of two sections. Therefore the sub-tribes are not a questionable money passed hands such as the natural division. selling of scarce woods such as rosewood on the black market, while the people of the country received a paltry sum (Randriamalala et al., 2010). The genus Angraecum is monopodial in growth habit (that is it grows upwards, not sideways like a 8

Cymbidium or Cattleya would. The species vary trees), but some are lithophytic (grow on rocks). They greatly in size, going from the 3cm A. urschinum to are found in tropical climates at elevations from 0 to the about 100cm A. longicalcor. Like most orchids the 2000 meters. The genus usually uses Moths as inflorescence is a raceme, which means that there is pollinators (eg A. sesquipedale is pollinated by the no stem for the individual blossoms on the famous Xanthopan moganii praedicta) but some inflorescence just an elongated ovary. The flower species are bird pollinated such as A .bracteosum colour is usually white, but can also be green, yellow which is pollinated by the wren-like Zosterox or ochre. The fowers are spurred with the spur barbonicus. There is even a species pollinated by varying from one to 300mm in length for the different crickets: A. cadetii by the cricket Glomeramus species. The number of chromosomes found in the orchidophilus. The expectation is that other pollinators plants is usually 19 pairs, but 21, 23, 24 and 25 also will be found with further study. occur. The plants are usually epiphytic (grow on (To be continued)

A Star is born.

Crystal Star Orchids offers broker service with over 15 top orchid nurseries from Taiwan and the U.S.A, including:

Ching Hua Orchids, In Charm, Krull Smith, and Sunset Valley.

Our website is up and running. If

you have any questions please feel free to email us at: [email protected] or call Eric Lee at (905) 478-8398.

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2011 SOOS Financial Report

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