World's first night-flowering orchid is discovered

Botanists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity Naturalis have described the first night-flowering orchid known to science on the island of New Britain, near Papua New Guinea.

For one night only

Bulbophyllum nocturnum, from the island of New Britain near Papua New Guinea, is the first known example of an orchid species with flowers that consistently open after dark and close in the morning. Its flowers last one night only. The discovery is published in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society.

"…it is a race against time to find species like this that only occur in primeval tropical forests. As we all know, such forests are disappearing fast.
Kew orchid specialist, André Schuiteman"

There are only a relatively small number of plant species that have flowers which open at night and close during the day. Up until now, no orchids were known to be among them, despite the fact that many orchids are pollinated by moths. However, these moth-pollinated orchids all have flowers that remain open during the day, even if they are mainly pollinated after dark.

Read full article: Kew Royal Botanical Garden

BBC News - Rare orchid stanhopea blooms at Treborth Botanic Garden

Rare orchid has flowered unexpectedly amid unseasonably warm November temperatures, giving botanic garden visitors a chocolate scented treat.

Nigel Brown, curator of the Treborth in Gwynedd, said the stanhopea was unusual both in the wild and when cultivated.

Botanic garden staff think the very sunny autumn may have triggered the unexpected bloom.

The plant usually flowers every other year during the summer.

The garden recorded the highest temperature for November in north Wales in 25 years on Sunday when the thermometer hit 18.2C (64.7F)

At Treborth - which is on land bought by Bangor University in the 1960s - the plant has six-inch long leaves coming out of a "green ribbed potato-like" bulb which stores water similar to a cactus.

The flower then dangles below the whole plant and each flower is a couple of inches across.

Mr Brown believes there is a link between the unusual November weather and its appearance.

The Pacific Orchid Exposition and the Golden Gate Bridge: Where Horticulture meets Architecture

On February 23-26, 2012, the San Francisco Orchid Society’s 60th annual Pacific Orchid Exposition will coincide with the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge. The festivities will combine the worlds of horticulture and architecture to form a celebration that will not be forgotten.

Location: Fort Mason, Festival Pavilion
Date: February 23-26, 2012
Gala: $45 / $40 online
General: $15 / $13 online
Senior: $12 / $10 online
Weekend Pass: $60 / $55 online
(Gala plus unlimited show access to regular show - excludes special events)

For more information visit: www.orchidsanfrancisco.org

BBG’s Tiger Orchid Blooms

It’s not every day that a tiger orchid blooms in Brooklyn. It’s not even every year. In fact, BBG’s Grammatophyllum speciosum had only bloomed twice in its 13-year residence here—until now. The 300-pound tropical orchid has thrived since it was repotted in June 2010 and is now producing a magnificent display of hundreds of yellow-and-brown-spotted blossoms. Even in its native habitat of Southeast Asia, the species blooms infrequently—reportedly once every two to four years. For a specimen to blossom in cultivation and at this latitude is a special event indeed. Don’t miss it.

Source Brooklyn Botanical Garden: BBG.org

TER LAAK ORCHIDS: MOST SUSTAINABLE NURSERY AWARD

Ter Laak Orchids is the winner of the public award in the ‘Ranking the Grower’ event. This announcement was made yesterday in the House of Technology & Innovation. ‘Ranking the Grower’ was initiated by TuinbouwCommunicatie, the company that publishes such titles as KAS Magazine, GroenteNet and SierteeltNet. The award was presented by Volker van Vuurde (Holland Contracting).

This year, the theme for ‘Ranking the Grower’ was sustainability. The competitors had been classified into 11 groups according to crop or group of crops, and a jury of experts selected the best grower in each of these groups. After the winners were announced last summer, the readers of KAS Magazine, GroenteNet and SierteeltNet could vote for their favourite. The results of the voting in order of placement were:

1. Ter Laak Orchids 
2. Prominent Groeneweg II 
3. Beyond Chrysanten

Sex, lies and orchids

News article from swissinfo.ch on findings by scientists on why orchids resort to sexual trickery to lure in male insects - it leads to a more efficient pollinating system.

Read full article at swissinfo.ch site>

Flower power

By Alia Wong

Orchid floriculture is a hobby in itself, and one that is fairly prevalent and established here in the Islands. In fact, there are 19 local societies devoted to the very cause. These orchid societies meet monthly at various locations throughout Hawaii, all with one simple idea in mind: Orchids are more than just pretty–they’re amazing. Read more>

The Unlikely Orchid Smuggler: A Case Study in Overcriminalization

by Andrew M. Grossman

George Norris, an elderly retiree, had turned his orchid hobby into a part-time business run from the greenhouse in back of his home. He would import orchids from abroad--South Africa, Brazil, Peru--and resell them at plant shows and to local enthusiasts. He never made more than a few thousand dollars a year from his orchid business, but it kept him engaged and provided a little extra money--an especially important thing as his wife, Kathy, neared retirement from her job managing a local mediation clinic.

Their life would take a turn for the worse on the bright fall morning of October 28, 2003, when federal agents, clad in protective Kevlar and bearing guns, raided his home, seizing his belongings and setting the gears in motion for a federal prosecution and jail time.

Read more>

BGI, China Partners to Sequence Orchids

Newsletter: GenomeWeb Daily News
NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Chinese genomics and botany researchers will sequence and analyze the whole genome of one common variety of orchid, Phalaenopsis equestris, and the transcriptomes of ten other species from the orchid family, Tsinghua University said this week.

The research will be conducted by the Tsinghua University Graduate School at Shenzhen, the National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan, the National Orchid Conservation Center, the Beijing Genomics Institute – Shenzhen, and the Institute of Botany of CAS.

The university said that the sequencing and assembling of the draft sequence of the orchid genome will take around six months, and it expects the transcriptome for the ten other orchid species to be completed around the same time.

Read more>

Taisugar opens virus-free orchid farm

Central News Agency 2009-07-23 08:32 PM

Taipei, July 23 (CNA) The state-run Taiwan Sugar Corp. (Taisugar) opened a virus-free orchid propagation farm in southern Taiwan's Tainan County Thursday that officials said will be able to produce 6 million virus-free seedlings per year. The 3,300-square-meter farm in Houpi township is equipped with two virus detection and examination systems -- ELISA and biochip technology -- a Taisugar official said. "It marks the first time in Taiwan that virus detection and examination systems have been integrated into a seedling culture farm's quality control mechanism," said the official. Read more>

Amado Vazquez cultivates family the same way he cultivates orchids : Opinion : Ventura County Star

My father, Pedro Vazquez, died 10 years ago, and there is not one day that passes that I don’t think about him and his beautiful life of monastic simplicity, service, sacrifice, wisdom, generosity and love that he gave to family, fellow workers, indeed, every human being he encountered.

My father always attributed his moral and philosophical development and maturation to the love, guidance and wisdom given to him and his siblings by his mother who was reverently called Madre Elvira by everyone in the small Mexican village where they were all raised.

Read more:
Amado Vazquez cultivates family the same way he cultivates orchids : Opinion : Ventura County Star

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Website dedicated to rare flower

BBC News - UK

The lesser butterfly orchid grows on the edges of moorland
A website has been launched in a bid to record locations of an increasingly rare flower.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) said the west of Scotland was considered a stronghold for the lesser butterfly orchid.

Its numbers have "declined significantly" across the UK, the government agency said.

The public can send locations of where they find it to the website: www.snh.org.uk/orchid2009/.

Plantlife Scotland, the Botanical Society of the British Isles and Royal Botanical Gardens Edinburgh are helping to gather information about the orchid's ecology and distribution.

SNH's plant specialist Robin Payne said: "We're grateful to all those who have taken part in the survey and submitted records on the website so far.

"Now that we know so much more about the lesser butterfly orchid we can take real, well informed action that will protect and conserve this species."

Lesser butterfly orchids grow on the edges of moorland or in damp grassland, often along the edge of ditches or even on roadside verges. The slender white flowers appear from early June through to mid-July.