First bloom and I was excited to see flowers on two growths. Love the plant but was hoping for one with a much darker pouch like some I’ve seen posted here (e.g. those of Phrag-plus) If anyone has a division of one with darker markings or knows a source I’d be interested. Thanks!
Phrag exstaminodium
- Thread starter Skoester
- Start date
Help Support Slippertalk Orchid Forum:
Tom-DE
Well-Known Member
For better color, look for Phrag. humboldtii. Ecuagenera has it on the list and they will have them at shows frequently. Or Orchid Limited has great clones but their price is expensive.
mrhappyrotter
Grand Chupacabra
I'm wondering if any of the taxonomy experts can weigh in. I thought that the defining characteristic of Phrag. existaminodium was the lack of a staminode. Or do some cultivars have a staminode like this?
Either way, I agree. A lot of the photos I've seen of exstaminodium make it look like it is essentially Phrag. humboldtii in terms of size and color, but simply lacking the staminode. Not that this flower isn't fantastic as is, but I feel like if I was expecting something with darker tones, this wouldn't quite cut it
Either way, I agree. A lot of the photos I've seen of exstaminodium make it look like it is essentially Phrag. humboldtii in terms of size and color, but simply lacking the staminode. Not that this flower isn't fantastic as is, but I feel like if I was expecting something with darker tones, this wouldn't quite cut it
You’re correct that it’s not supposed to have a staminode.. I currently have a Mont Fallu in bloom and have asked myself what’s different in the morphology between the two and didn’t see anything different. Curious what the experts think this is if not exstaminodium.
MStruwig
Member
I had one bloom exactly like yours. Looked more like Phrag. Stairway to Heaven. I was told by the grower that 50% or so of those deflasked had staminode. The can of worms was opened when I asked if it was thus true exstaminodium. I think he had spoken to Frank (Frank; apologies if it was not you that he had spoken to, could be a case of broken telephone) who said it would then be warszewiczianum var. Warszewiczianum. Another grower I spoke to said the later shouldn't exist. Either way, the pouch was green like yours so it quite possibly has true exstaminodium parents.
The plant in the photos is not a Phragmipedium exstaminodium. It is not possible.
Phragmipedium exstamindoium was reduced to a synonym of humboltii. It is no longer recognized as a distinct species. Why? Two other Phragmipedium species have been found in natural populations that produce plants in small populations without staminodes, boisserianum and schlimii. The characteristic, however uncommon as it might be, is present in other species throughout the range of the genus. Humboltii plants that produce flowers without staminodes also produce flowers with staminodes in some years, making the trait inconsistent. I have a photo of a plant of exstaminodium with two (2) flowers, one with a staminode and one without, on the same spike in the same year.
The staminode aside, exstaminodium is a humboltii in every way, ecologically, morphologically, and grows within the natural range of that species. Given what we know now, as opposed to thirty years ago, it makes no sense to keep exstaminodium as a species.
Best,
Warszewiczianum is now the name for what we used to call wallisii. Warszewiczianum was also once the name for what we now call humboltii. Popowii is a synonym of humboltii. Yes, a mess. I wrote a paper on the names in this section that you find on Academia.
Best,
