Phal. Half & Half

[Hemde]

The only explanation I've come across is the one below: ...

- Thanks Eric for your answer and for the reference to the author's explanation.

- Looking at the above picture, the unique logic conclusion seems indeed to be the existence of two genes controling each one half of the flower, but so perfectly is really amazing.

- I made a research on color breaks in orchid flowers and I found an interesting article from the 'Proceedings of the Florida State Hort. Society' containing, on page 287, a picture of a phalaenopsis flower very similar to the one above. The picture legend say that the color break in this case is caused by the ORSV virus ?

Here is the link : http://www.fshs.org/Proceedings/Pass...18/287-288.pdf

This is a little bit disturbing, no ?

[orcoholic]

A second flower has opened and it's identical to the first.

[Ron-NY]

color breaks from a virus is usually not just one side of the flower...very interesting

[Hemde]

color breaks from a virus is usually not just one side of the flower...very interesting

- I thought the same thing but if you see the photo at the bottom of page 287 of the PDF file, we can see that this is not always the case ...

[orcoholic]

- I made a research on color breaks in orchid flowers and I found an interesting article from the 'Proceedings of the Florida State Hort. Society' containing, on page 287, a picture of a phalaenopsis flower very similar to the one above. The picture legend say that the color break in this case is caused by the ORSV virus ?

Hemde,

I read the article and although the flower looks similar, the markings on my flowers don't seem to be random. The second flower is the same as the first. The markings are consistent. The article indicates ORSV markings are random. I can't see the other flowers on the plant pictured in the article, but there may be marking you can see on the flower behind the main one that appears to be different.

What do you think?

Mike

[Hemde]

Hi Mike,

- The subject is interesting.
- I do not think your plant virused. However, the color-break effects looks similar.

the markings on my flowers don't seem to be random.

- I read the article on 'peloric flowers and color breaks' (page 17) in the Frowine's book. A. Dean Stock also said that: « Rarely will the same or even similar markings appear from flower to flower, and this instable condition will not usually repeat itself in the next flowering.»

- Eric Christenson, in Phalaenopsis - A monograph, page 288, for his part said about french line of spotted hybrids that « Because these hybrids rely on heavily spotted clones of P. stuartiana for their patterning, their flowers are susceptible to the same environmentally induced (1) sectoring or color-break seen in the species (...) The presence of color-break in this line of breeding rarely indicates the presence of virus as it would in, say, a cattleya.» A stuartiana background in your hybrid is always possible ?

- An abnormal, irregular streaked pattern of colors in flowers, often indicates a virus infection or genetic defect, but a virus infection affects the whole plant and not just the flowers. So don't worry, I think it's just a genetic disorder.

- (1) A Brazilian site suggests that a color-break can also be caused by a sudden change of temperature ???

[EMos]

Hi Mike,

- The subject is interesting.
- I do not think your plant virused. However, the color-break effects looks similar.

Thank you Hemde for your research and comments; this is for sure an interesting subject that has already raised a lot of controversy in many orchid instances.
I was personally concerned, as I mentioned earlier, I’ve got a few hybrids that have got a similar effect, but then I was reassured by a passage in the book of Greg Alikas and Ned Nash – The World’s most Beautiful Orchids; Here is what the author says about Dtps. Happy King 'Pine Ridge' which has got a similar irregular patterning and has been awarded a HCC by the AOS: "Dtps. Happy King ‘Pine Ridge’ HCC/AOS represents a breeding direction that is controversial. Some Phalaenopsis fanciers state that these "spin art" orchids look diseased because of their random markings, which resemble virus colour break. Others love them!"

The attractiveness of such orchids is somewhat debatable and subject to personal taste, but at least it seems that it has been agreed that it is caused by a mutation.

[orcoholic]

My suspicion is that temperature and/or light levels have a big effect on what the flowers of these types of Phals look like.

I've had some Chain Xen Pearl's that I picked up at a Taiwanese wholesale operation with a couple of flowers open. The pattern of each flower on its respective spike was the same. The buds that subsequently opened in my greenhouse were different from the ones that were open when I bought them. This never happens when they rebloom and stay in my greenhouse.

The only thing I could attribute the changing to is temperature change and/or amount of light change, as I don't think anything like a different fertilizer, etc. would have that fast an effect.

Any other ideas?

Mike