Question about Orchid Name (Miltassia Shelob)

[GreyThumb]

Hey everyone,

I'm still learning about orchid names and understand they can change pretty easily. My first ever orchid was 'Miltassia Shelob "The Weed" ' According to the tag that came with the plant.

I now understand that it's supposed to be called 'Bratonia' instead of 'Miltassia', but that we're supposed to wait and see if it sticks.

My question is about the name in quotes. Are these "tacked-on" names nicknames or do they denote a separate plant/flower color/etc...? I've seen "Tolkien", "Red Spider", and "The Weed" appended to Miltassia Shelob. Are these all the same plant or is Miltassia Shelob the plant and the others just different nicknames, like "Crane Orchid" or "Egret Orchid" for 'habenaria radiata' (which upon doing a spell check on google, also came up as Pecteilis radiate )

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Hi Joel,
Take a look at my article here on Orchid names: Orchid Names and Naming | River Valley Orchidworks

cheers,
BD

[GreyThumb]

Thanks Brutal_Dreamer. That answers my question.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Carolla]

I do have to smile at the name "The Weed" as it is a pretty happy growing plant!

[GreyThumb]

Yeah, it's not as intimidating as, say, 'Red Spider', but it's what's on the tag. I like it. I'm waiting on a mod to approve another post about it. I recently repotted it when it out grew the pot. I added some LFS to them mix and the newest bulb plumped nicely, but now it's shriveling a little. It was my first every orchid, so I hope I don't lose it.

[PaphMadMan]

Names can be very confusing to new growers, and I commend you for wanting to learn. That article covers the basics well. But I want to emphasize one point. Take care to use single quotes and double quotes correctly. The "tacked-on" names like 'The Weed' or 'Red Spider' are always in single quotes. Technically this name is the cultivar, but is often called a clonal name. This indicates one specific original plant that started from seed or from a mutation, and all the genetically identical plants that are propagated from it by division or cloning.

Single quotes should not be used in any other way, so don't put them around the name of a cross (or grex name) like Shelob, or around the whole name. Double quotes have no place in or around any orchid name except in the limited way you might use them in ordinary writing to indicate a specific use of a word (as we did with "tacked-on"), or a true quotation.

[GreyThumb]

Thank you. After reading the article, I've been careful to just use single quotes when writing the name.

[theflowerbread]

I always thought my spider orchid was a Miltassia but now thanks to this thread I found out it is actually a Bratonia! Still so many things still to learn for me! Tomorrow I'm gonna update its label!
Posted via Mobile Device