With Jerry Fischer's permission, I am posting a couple of pictures that Orchids Limited posted on their Facebook page today. During the growth of a bunch of new plants from a standard diploid Fritz Schomburg cross, Jerry and Jason noticed a decidedly different plant in terms of leaf and plant structure. They suspected it was a natural tetraploid mutant. That plant is now in first flower and they happen to also have one of their excellent triploid Fritz Schomburg plants to compare. The next picture shows the two flowers side by side. It is obvious which spike and flower is the presumed tetraploid.
The next picture is of the presumed tetraploid flower next to Jerry's hand (Jerry is an average size man).
It is probably too soon to know if the tetraploid will do any reflexing as it matures, but the flower substance is heavy.
I had been thinking that a chemical conversion of a diploid FS cross was going to be needed to get to a tetraploid, but spontaneous mutation is another way to do it!
The next picture is of the presumed tetraploid flower next to Jerry's hand (Jerry is an average size man).
It is probably too soon to know if the tetraploid will do any reflexing as it matures, but the flower substance is heavy.
I had been thinking that a chemical conversion of a diploid FS cross was going to be needed to get to a tetraploid, but spontaneous mutation is another way to do it!
