Dendrochilum simile

This is the message that accompanied the original photographs:

Below are 4 variously detailed photos of my Dendrochilum simile that was awarded a provisional CBR/AOS this past Saturday at the Huntsville, AL, show.

The plant was legally imported from Simanis Orchids in Java (copy of Indonesian export/USFW import permit available). Please let me know if you need additional (larger or jpeg) photos, preserved blooms or further information. Thanks!
Charles G. Wilson
1775 Keenlan Drive
Hernando, MS 38632
(phone 901-268-1445)

I have written to this fellow for better photos and some measurements, but he has not responded, so I'm putting up what we've got, as crummy and teeny as the photos are.

Here, also, is an initial exchange, between Ron & me.
This first, from Ron:
I am leaving very early tomorrow for Philadelphia and will not be back until about midnight Sunday night. If you don't mind you can work with him. I already know this isn't Dendrochilum simile. Even these images are clear enough to tell you that there are two keels that run down almost the entire length of the lip. There are two species in this section (Platyclinis) in Indonesia. One is simile with three keels that run from the base to less than the point where the recurving begins and the other species is odoratum. That species has two keels visible even in these images that run nearly the entire length of the lip. This is odoratum.

A response from Lisa:
I have in front of me Seidenfaden & Wood's Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and it has a couple of things that seem to be at variance with the thing in these pictures being odoratum: " Lip bent downwards but the end not rolled under," "Lip... shorter than the petals" so please excuse me while I get more information and hopefully better pictures from this fellow. I won't do any more looking until I get this, but right now I cannot sign up for your diagnosis of this thing as odoratum, and I feel that we need decent information from this fellow in order to properly evaluate this plant.
So far, I see nothing in the description of D. simile that eliminates this plant. S&W describe the lip as follows: "Lip with apical half rolled under, ... side lobes hardly developed... keels in basal half of lip 2, with a very short one between them..." The visible keels stop short of the recurved part of the lip.

This is a couplet from the key in S&W:

3. Leaf blade to 23 by 2.5 cm or larger. No side lobes to lip.

4. Lip 2.5 mm wide, most of blade turned back underneath and rolled up, keels 2....D. simile

4'. Lip 1.5 mm wide, blade not rolled up, keels 3, of equal length....D. odoratum

From Ron, 04/01/2009:

I just found out tonight that the Dendrochilum simile has been identified by David Banks so we can drop it unless we want to make it an exercise. I'm not sure why the exhibitor sent it to us if he'd already sent it directly to Banks.

And the note from David Banks, verifying the identification:

Hello Charles,
Congratulations on the award.
Indeed, your species is Dendrochilum simile – which is quite widespread throughout Indonesia and Peninsula Malaysia. Throughout it range it surprisingly shows little variation.

As an aside, I see you used the abbreviation Ddc. Technically; there is no present abbreviation for the genus. This seems to only occur when applied by the RHS in London once the genus has been used in hybridization. Just a bit of orchid trivia!

You are very correct Charles; sending preserved flowers of such things to Australia would almost certainly be confiscated. It is great that in this day and age we can use this technology to quickly communicate and confirm identifications.

Kind regards,
David

David Banks
Hills District Orchids

Sophronitis coccinea

Dear Peter,
Sophronitis coccinea award 20095006, has been confirmed to be Sophronitis coccinea by the SITF April 2008. You can now process the award.

Patricia Harding , chair SITF

Oncidium volvox confirmed to be Oncidium lineoligerum

Dear Peter,
Oncidium volvox award 20095010, has been confirmed to be Oncidium lineoligerum by the SITF July 2009 with assistance of Willibald Königer. There is a synonym of this species awarded as O. stenotis, which would make this award nullified. You have the option of nullifying the award or if the award was a CBR the center could change it to a CHM. The rules will allow that one to go through with the statement that this is a much brighter, more overall orange/brown flower, something to that effect. If you look at the previous award it's much less orange than this one,(maybe).

Patricia Harding , chair SITF

Lycaste xanthocheila confirmed to be Ida castanea

Lycaste xanthocheila, award 20095009, has been confirmed to be Ida castanea by the SITF March 2008 with the assistance of Henry Oakeley. You can now process the award.

Patricia Harding , chair SITF

Masdevallia amanda determined by to be Masdevallia leptoura

Masdevallia Amanda award # 20095851 has been determined by to be Masdevallia leptoura by SITF, July 2009. There are two previous awards to this species. Consider this when submitting the award or the award will be nullified.

Bill or Russ, will you tell the exhibitor, I can’t seem to find the emails with that information.

Patricia Harding

Bulbopyhllum macroleum confirmed to be Bulbophyllum retusiusculum

Note from Blog Mother:

I fail to find the name "macroleum" anywhere, it may be an attempt at "macrocoleum," which was published by Seidenfaden in section Racemosae, not even close to this.

Bulbophyllum macroleum award 20095848 has been confirmed to be Bulbophyllum retusiusculum yellow form by the SITF with the assistance of Peter O’Byrne, Doris Jensen, and Leonid Averyanov. You may now process the award as Bulbophyllum retusiusculum yellow form.

In the future, the experts all say you can’t get a definitive 100% identification on a bulbo without a dissected flower. As there are no close relatives to this species and everything matches we are going with this species, but it could be a new species(most likely not but could be), but without a dissected flower it is impossible to tell. If there had been close relatives to this species we would have had to ask for a flower or pictures of a dissected flower. Also, though good, these shots could have been clearer.


Patricia Harding

Cleisocentron merrillianum

From Eric, unexpurgated:

Dear Maureen,

Your plant is Cleisocentron merrillianum (note spelling).

Alas my identification won't work for the AOS. They declared war on me by insisting that I am an orchid smuggler. I tell them to go F$%$ themselves every chance I get.

I collected the species in Borneo and was the one to correctly place the species in Cleisocentron which had previously been restricted to the mainland.

I will copy this to Harding and McHatton of the on again/off again AOS Identification Task Force.

Hope that helps, Eric

From Ron MacHatton:

Patricia:        I spoke to Aileen this morning about this award 

and there is a way  to save this.  Once the SITF confirms the ID 

she can process it even  though there is now a pre-existing CHM.  

The color of these flowers is  sky blue with a darker blue lip.  

The November CHM is to a plant with  white sepals and petals and 

a contrasting blue lip; sufficiently  different to allow this one 

to stand.  Ron

Dear Jack and Maureen;

Cleisocentron merrillianum award 20085653 has been confirmed to be  Cleisocentron merrillianum by the SITF with the assistance of Eric Christenson.  You may now process the award.
 This clone differs from another award in that the entire flower is blue rather than just the lip spur.

Please include this last sentence in the description.

Patricia Harding, chair Species Identification Task Force