orchid identification

Discussion in 'Orchidaceae (orchids)' started by georgeianna, May 20, 2006.

  1. georgeianna

    georgeianna Member

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    Location:
    Brooklilne, NH USA
    I was wondering if anyone can help me identify an orchid that I received as a gift from my daughter. I would like to take proper care of it and cannot seem to find a picture of it for identification. It looks like this: The leaves are long and solid green, growing out of a fleshy oval-shaped base. The flowers are on a stalk about 2 feet long. They are a greenish-yellow in color with dark brown speckling/mottling on them. The shape of the flowers is very distinctive, with very long and thin petals radiating out from the center of the flower. Thank you for any help.
     
  2. terrestrial_man

    terrestrial_man Active Member 10 Years

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    Location:
    California, USA
    I haven't a clue!!
    but I do have a link!
    http://images.google.com/images?q=orchids&hl=en&btnG=Search+Images
    click on the above link and you will have pages and pages of
    orchid flowers to look at. Find the one that looks closest to yours
    and let us know what it is! Otherwise it is like shooting at a barn
    with your eyes close and spinning around and around and around!
    Please excuse my humor!
     
  3. Daniel Mosquin

    Daniel Mosquin Paragon of Plants UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Agreed - there are thousands upon thousands of orchids. Identifying without a photograph is like terrestrial_man says.
     
  4. Orchidguy

    Orchidguy Member

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    Location:
    Jacksonville,Alabama,USA
    Hello Georgeianna,
    It is true...there are over 125,000 species of orchids...and GOD only knows how many hybrids...but try a couple of these genera on Google image and see if you get anything similar to what you have. These some orchids similiar in plant body and flower to your description: Brassia, Oncidium, Beallara, and Wilsonara. These are the most commonly found in retail,floral,and nursery stores.
    Hope this helps,
    Orchidguy
     
  5. Chris Klapwijk

    Chris Klapwijk Active Member 10 Years

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    Black Ceek, B.C., Canada
    Orchidguy, according to most websites returned by this Google search, the number of orchid species may be as high as 30,000 with the Kew World Checklist of Orchids including about 24,000 accepted species.

    Did you include the possibly 100,000 hybrids in the number you quoted?
     
  6. Orchidguy

    Orchidguy Member

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    Hello Chris,
    My apologies, you are correct. I did "lump" an estimate of known/possible species and the number of possible orchid hybrids together when I was writing everything down so quickly a few days ago. Thank you for catching my error. I honestly do not want to give or spread inaccurate information.
    Best Regards,
    Glenn/Orchidguy
     

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