Orchid Naming for Dummies

[Piper]

[Fingers in ears] I'm not listening, I'm not listening!

I scanned this, now I'm gonna post it! Bird brains be damned!

In transmission electron micrscopy, you embed your tissue in a plastic and shave off slices so thin you can pass an electron beam through them. What's solid come out darker than what's less solid. That was the technique used for the previous picture.

Scanning electron microscopy bounces an electron beam off a surface and a computer 'collects' the scattered electrons from all angles and then reconstructs what the shape of the surface must have looked like. That's what this pic is. Same as before - rod and cone outer segments. I love the 3D feel to these images. The broken pretzels in the forground are just that - broken outer segments of rods.

I just wanted to add that the tissue prep is where all the work goes. For 1 hour of 'beam time' in the microscope, you easily spend 100+ hours prepping your samples.

Enjoy!

Julie

[Hoa Tony Nguyen]

WOW, Julie, that is an AMAZING picture!!!! You ought to post that! The microscopic world is full of wondrous images once they are magnified so we can see! Thanks for posting that. I am glad to be able to see the differences in cellular shape betweent the cone and rod photoreceptor cells! Great stuff on how you prepare your samples too!

We have used both of these electron microscopic techniques for our work. And people even use variations of this technique to determine proteins' structure, i.e. the magnification level is even greater such that you can resolve distance/3-D shape in order of angstrom.

Cheers. Hoa.

[Diane]

PS. Now now Diane, don't you enjoy our recent posts? At times, we need to elevate the IQ levels of the conversation to spice up the pretty pictures...

I can spew jargon with the best of them.... but when I want jargon I go over to R&D - here I come for PRETTY PICTURES and pleasant conversations about speedos and floofiness and brewing potions out by the stump at midnight!

[Gin]

Eye Balls ! ..... Pretty pictures

[pablopabla]

Wow! You are so knowledgeable!

[Piper]

Thanks, but don't be too impressed...the microscope work was back in college, over twenty years ago. I'm lucky if I still remember the subject!

The orchid naming was put together in bits and pieces, because I was so helplessly confused by it.

Lots of questions and lots of good answers from other people. I just documented it.

Welcome to the forum, Pablo! And feel welcome to ask qustions!

Julie

[ms_mims]

Hi Julie! Elelctron microscopy is just too beautiful for words.. I'm a bit geeky that way, love the micro as well as the macro.. Thanks for posting this. Do you have others up here somewhere that I just haven't found yet?

[Kmac]

Interesting post...I always wondered why they carefully note which is the pod parent.

OK. I realize this is an old thread, but if anyone is still out there...I get what the Cattleya Alliance means, but find it a bit confusing why you see "Vanda tribe". Is a tribe = an alliance, or do they mean different things?

[TwoStems]

Glad I found this, it's super helpful! Now I understand naming and how to correctly refer to ones that have confusing looking names on the tag

I've got one with 'HOF' at the end. I always thought this was one of those AOS tags but I guess not. Clone name?

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Glad I found this, it's super helpful! Now I understand naming and how to correctly refer to ones that have confusing looking names on the tag

I've got one with 'HOF' at the end. I always thought this was one of those AOS tags but I guess not. Clone name?

Grower name from Hilo, Hawaii.

Cheers,
BD