Unregistered Orchid Names

[chrisa]

Hello everyone,

A few months ago, I purchased a seedling with an ID tag that only listed the name of the orchid; parentage was not listed. When I got home, I went to the Royal Name Registry (or whatever it is called) and tried to look it up. The orchid was not registered and I was unable to find the parents; no worries, I did not give it a second thought.

However, I was looking at orchid pics online and saw a beautiful plant that was named (no parentage) and wanted to look up its parents as well. Guess what, it was not registered either.

--- The main two reasons for wanting to know the parentage is for keeping my records updated on my collection; the second, is to find out where the plant originated.

My question, is this common? Do breeders often make hybrids, give them a name, and never register the name?

[PaphMadMan]

It is becoming much more common. With the vast majority of orchids of the popular alliances being sold without names, or to people who don't care about names or even know something like the registration system exists, there is no economic incentive for producers to go through the registration process. They may even choose to sell a named hybrid under their own trademark rather than the registered name. Even if all of us who do care about registered names refused to buy unnamed or bogus named plants it wouldn't be enough for the big producers/sellers to notice a difference. Buyer beware. Get a smart phone and check names with the International Orchid Register before making those impulse purchases.

[tucker85]

I suspect that what Kirk says is probably true. I also think it often takes time for some crosses to get into the orchid database and literature. I've had a couple of orchids that I couldn't find initially but a year latter I saw them listed as registered.

[orchid-man]

I suspect that what Kirk says is probably true. I also think it often takes time for some crosses to get into the orchid database and literature. I've had a couple of orchids that I couldn't find initially but a year latter I saw them listed as registered.

It does not take the RHS long - I registered a plant earlier this year and it was in their online data base a week later.

[PaphMadMan]

If there is a lag it is probably between the time the name is chosen, often when a plant is awarded, and when the owner submits the registration and pays the fee. It can take some time to locate and get permission from the originator of the cross to name it.