newsContents
Elsewhere in this newsletter will be a copy of last year's minutes and a tentative agenda for this year's meeting. If any of our member societies wish to add something to it, please, either send me a letter to my address, which is listed at the back of the COC newsletter or send me an e-mail with your suggestions.
Please, remember that we need every affiliated society's vote to ratify the new constitution and bylaws.
If you are not sending a delegate, please, communicate your approval to me as suggested above.
Spring, of course, is a busy time for orchid growers, with plants beginning to grow again after their winter rest, greenhouses cleaned, plants groomed, flowers needing to be staked and orchid shows happening all over the country, needing our flowers and our help. Each member of an orchid society should feel that their help does make a difference. Last weekend I was in Edmonton to help judge their spring show. I was impressed to see how many persons were there at 8:00 AM to help with ribbon judging. About one third of their membership had come and they were ready to work. I wish that every orchid society would have such enthusiastic members!
In closing, I wish all of you Happy Orchid Shows!
Ingrid Schmidt-Ostrander
At the request of the executive I have investigated the feasibility of insurance coverage for all societies. I have been quoted the following:
$2,000,000 liability insurance premium would be $2,000 per year
This includes $1,000,000 Directors & officers errors or omissions liability. This would cover society meetings and shows. Also greenhouse tours sponsored by a society. I am still investigating loss coverage for books.
The cost to each society would be based on the number of societies taking part. The fee to each society would be based on the number of members. If everyone participates the cost to each society would be based on number of members. For example if there were 3,000 members in total the cost per member would be approximately 60 - 65 cents per member. If there were 50 members in the society then the cost to that society would be $32.50 per year. The insurance would be held by the COC. The premiums from each society would also be collected by the COC.
Lynne Cassidy
Malcolm Adams (ECOS) passed away at his home in St-Hilaire QC. He was well known in the Canadian orchid community and will be sadly missed.
Most of us knew Malcolm. He was a kind and gentle man. He was knowledgeable about orchids and always helpful to the COC. We shall miss him with sadness in our hearts for losing him, but with gratitude for having known him.
He served as a Director of the Pleurothallid Alliance, editor of the Canadian Orchid Congress News and of the Eastern Canada Orchid Society Newsletter, and assisted at the Toronto Judging Centre as entry clerk for many years.
The Second International Orchid Conservation Conference will be held at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Sarasota, Florida, May 16 - 21, 2004. The theme is 'The Conservation Balance'. Use the link provided below to learn more about the program, speakers, and associated conservation activities.
http://www.selby.org/index.php?src=gendocs&link=iocc&category=Research
The following slate of officers have agreed to stand for election.
President -- Margaret Blewett - O.S. of Nova Scotia
Vice-President -- Lorne Heshka - Manitoba O.S.
Treasurer -- Janette Richardson - Regina O.S.
Secretary -- Terry Kennedy - Southern Ontario O.S.
Lynne Cassidy - Nominating Chair
The Central Ontario Orchid Society now has its own domain name: http://www.coos.ca
The Victoria OS has new lapel pins, depicting their logo: Miltonia Venus; it is rosy pink on a cornflower blue background and costs $ 5.00 plus shipping & handling. Anybody interested, please contact Ingrid Ostrander.
Lycastes by Ingrid Ostrander
The program consists of 68 slides plus background on Anguloa, Ida and Lycaste. The first part of the program deals with the description, habits and culture of the three closely related genera of Anguloa, Ida and Lycaste. There are two versions of this - one a little longer than the other. The second part is a slide program showing potting procedures, Anguloas and their hybrids, the newly separated Idas, and Lycaste species and hybrids. Each slide comes with a short comment about the picture shown. To present the whole program should take about 40 to 50 minutes. Information on ordering the programs is available on the COC website.
The COC, in the person of Ross Otto, has produced a set of twelve orchid culture sheets. The sheets are available on the COC website as html files for viewing and PDF files for printing.
Orchids form one of the largest and most diversified families of plants. The flowers are highly adapted for attracting, deceiving, and manipulating insects to achieve pollination. They seem to also be very successful in attracting humans to assist in their propagation.
Years ago plants and animals were classified and organized
into a structure that showed the relationships of one organism to
another. A set of rules defines how everything is to be named.
Latin was the universal language of science at the time and is
still used today in the naming conventions. The class of
flowering plants or Angiospermae are divided into two
subclasses, the Monocotyledonae
(monocots) and the Dicotyledonae (dicots). Within the
monocots is the super order Liliiflorae, which in turn contains the family
of orchids, Orchidaceae. 
Orchids are distinct from other flowering plants because:
Orchids grow from the Arctic to the Equator and south in all the continents except Antarctica. The family of Orchids contains more species than any other family of plants. Botanists believe the family to contain some 20,000 to 25,000 species. With the destruction of the rainforests we are losing undiscovered species and may never know the exact number.
The orchids that orchid growers are mostly interested in are the tropical epiphytes. Epiphytes are plants that grow upon other plants, usually in forests. By doing this they gain a better position to obtain more light. Their roots cling to branches of trees and obtain water only in rain or fog. Many orchids, bromeliads, ferns, mosses and lichens are epiphytes.
Key to the
drawing:
1 - dorsal sepal
2 - petal
3 - lip
4 - lateral sepals
5 - column
Monocots, the Monocotyledonae include palms, duckweed, bamboo, grass, onions, bananas and the members of Liliiflorae. Some of their characteristics are:
Dicots, the Dicotyledonae include peas, trees, roses, asters, mints and many other familiar flowering plants. Some of their characteristics are:
Liliiflorae contains not only orchids but lilies, amaryllises and irises. All these plants develop their seeds in ovaries below the flower.
You just bought an orchid? Dont lose the name tag!
Years ago plants and animals were classified and organized into a structure that showed the relationships of one organism to another. A set of rules defines how everything is to be named. Latin was the universal language of science at the time and is still used today in the naming conventions.
As a simple example, we have:
The first part of the name tells us that we have a member of the cattleya genus. The second part tells us that it is the species schilleriana. There are many other species of cattleya but this is a specific one. Also note that the word "cattleya" is capitalized - the genus is always capitalized. The species schilleriana is in lower case - a species name is always in lower case. And another point - we have a species - the singular form is "species" not "specie". A little looking would tell us that the genus was named after a William Cattley in 1842 and this species was named after a Mr Schiller. Because it is a species, the names have been Latinized.
Now for another example:
The "Slc" stands for "Sophrolaeliocattleya". Well it seems that some orchids of one genus will actually cross with orchids of a different genus. The result is an intergeneric hybrid. In this case we have a Sophronitis species crossed with a Laelia crossed with a Cattleya. No, not all at the same time! Anyway, we now have a hybrid that was called "Jewel Box". Notice the capital letters - it is not a species. The word in quotes, "Scheherazade", is the name given to one special plant of this cross, a specific clone. There were many babies from this cross but one really stood out and it had to have a name of its own. If your plants dont already have a clonal name, you can give them one of your own.
A more complicated one:
The capitals on "Armeni White" tell us that this is a hybrid within the genus Paphiopedilum. The brackets signal that what follow tells us about the parents. "Armeni White" is a cross between Paphiopedilum armeniacum and Paphiopedilum delanatii. The clonal names tell us which specific parents were used in the cross. By convention, the seed-producing (female) parent is listed first, followed by the "x", followed by the pollen (male) parent. It is sometimes very important to know which was which. The group of plants resulting from the cross is called a grex.
The other thing present, the "FCC/AOS" is an award designation. The American Orchid Society (AOS) has many types of awards, this one being a First Class Certificate. The common awards are HCC, AM, and FCC, the FCC being the highest.
Let us say that my plant of this cross just won an AM/AOS and I called the plant "Snow Queen", what would my label look like?
What if I divide the plant to sell a piece - what goes on the tag? ANS: Just what is on it now. They are both the same clone. What if I divide the plant, sell the piece and that piece wins an award? ANS: The clonal name and award can now be put on my plant's name tag. It is the same actual plant or clone. A different plant of the same cross doesnt count.
And finally:
The thing to note here is that one parent is a "Blc" which stands for "Brassolaeliocattleya" and "Sc" which is "Sophrocattleya". The genera combined in this cross are Brassavola, Laelia, Cattleya with Sophronitis and Cattleya. This combination of four genera is called a Potinara. The link below gives a table of all the intergeneric genus names with their abbreviation.
You might also find a couple other terms on a plant label from time to time. One is self, which indicates that the parent was self-pollinated. The label usually shows xself. The other possibility is sib or sib-cross, usually abbreviated xsib or xsibling. Technically this refers to a brother-sister cross, but it is generally used to refer to two different clones being crossed.
Orchid hybrid names are registered by the Royal Horticultural Society. They have a web site (listed below) that provides access to the name registry. It is always a good idea to look up your hybrid name to see if the name has actually been registered, if it is spelled correctly, and to determine the parents. If you have the parents only, check to see if the cross has been named.
For more information here are a few links:
Jerry Bolce
Provisional Agenda for the 17th General Meeting of the COC, May 2/2004
Welcome and `Thank You' to the Vancouver O.S. for hosting this event.
Roll Call
Reading of minutes from the 2003 AGM
Business arising from minutes:
Reports:
New Business:
Future Meetings
Elections Lynne Cassidy
Welcome the new executives!
New President to take the floor
Close meeting
The Vancouver Orchid Society is pleased to present its 27th annual show and sale from May 1-2, 2004. This year's show is also being held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Canadian Orchid Congress.
Once again, the show will be held at the Richmond Winter Club (a.k.a. Richmond Curling Club) located on Hollybridge Way; close to the Richmond town centre and the Vancouver Airport.
This annual event showcases some of the best orchids in BC and will be adjudicated by the American Orchid Society. The COC connection will bring orchid societies and vendors from across the country (as well as some international orchid growers) and show organizers are planning to also feature floral art and photography exhibits.
The Show's website is http://www.vosshow.com
It will be updated with new information as we go along. COC registration forms and Exhibit/Sales forms are available online.
Thurs Apr 29
2:00pm -- Delegate Registration begins
Fri Apr 30
7:30pm -- Preview Party (for VOS and COC members and guests only)
- plant sales begin at 8pm
Sat, May 1
10:30am - COC Lecture Series #1
- - - Kees Groot Ph.D.
- - - Global Climate Change & Orchids
2:00pm - COC Lecture Series #2
- - - Denise C. Wilson President, Boulder O.S.
- - - How to Mobilize to Protect Native Species
7:00pm - Banquet and Silent Auction (COC members only)
Sun May 2
9:30am - COC Annual General Meeting
12noon - COC Executive Luncheon meeting
2:00pm - Speaker #3
- - - TBA
[This is a summary of the new business from last year'sAnnual Meeting previously published Volume 15.4 September 2003]
INCORPORATION OF THE COC AS A NON-PROFIT SOCIETY. Judy Adams presented the motion to incorporate the COC on a federal level, seconded by Mark Elliott. Discussion: Ingrid had sent a letter to all society reps asking for input. The details of her research and the benefits were outlined. She received a total of 14 letters encouraging incorporation. She summarised her points:
Fulfilment of the initial Concept for COC, Compliance with provincial Laws, National membership synergy, International credibility, Federal support and name protection, Eligibility for charitable status.
The one time cost for this incorporation is $230.00; the annual filing fee will be $30.00.
Terry and Margaret noted that the liability protection of the directors is the most important point. All agreed. No one spoke against the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
The existent Constitution and By-Laws must be changed to comply with the federal standards. Ingrid proposed to give this task to a committee consisting of Margaret Blewett, Lorne Heshka and Jennifer Smith, a lawyer and president of the Vancouver OS. This must be done within three months of this meeting. The amended Constitution and By-Laws will have to be ratified by all the member societies. This can probably be done by post and email. Margaret noted that anyone interested could go on the government web site and look at the Canada Corporation Act to see what changes need to be made. This was accepted.
COC SPEAKERS' TOUR. The earlier division had Manitoba becoming part of the Eastern tour. Lorne pointed out that Winnipeg is much closer to Saskatoon than to the Ontario groups, so Manitoba was moved to the Western tour. Yves Aubry (Quebec) will look after the East tour and Bill Bischoff (B.C.) will after the West tour. Will the COC subsidise tours? Discussion showed that more important than the subsidy was the logistics. Jean H. noted that long term planning will be essential and even then, not every society could always accommodate the speaker on the tour. All agreed that special meetings did not solve the problem. Co-operation among geographically linked societies is important because outlying societies were often missed on tours due to cost and distance. Joint meetings may be a possible solution. Jean I. pointed out that the length of time required away from home (or the greenhouse), when a speaker does a number of talks, also limits the speakers available. Jean H. suggested that because of the great distances, perhaps limiting the number of stops to say seven and having several shorter tours would work better. Terry suggested that asking a speaker to do seven talks plus travel in a week is a large requirement.
Ingrid suggested that the COC could subsidise the airfare of overseas speakers to say $500 and Societies will pick up the rest of cost. This seemed to be acceptable. Judy noted that Yves could not attend the meeting but was working on getting speaker for the fall. Ingrid pointed out that at this point the tour might have to be for 2004 to accommodate scheduling of meetings. There may be no tour this year. Further discussion was deferred until there is more input from the two organisers.
ADVERTISING of future COC meetings: Some method should be organized at current shows, to let people know when and where the next one will be.
POLICY ON HOSTING COC MEETINGS: Ingrid noted that there was some misunderstanding about costs of some aspect of a COC show that also incorporates an AOS show. Mark pointed out that their president, who was rather new at this, was at a complete loss at what was needed with respect to a COC meeting. Ingrid volunteered to write up protocol for a COC Show. This was accepted.
PROGRAM FUND FOR CANADIAN SPEAKERS; Ingrid said that 3 societies thought that the COC could help with program costs, but pointed out that COC was not responsible for regular Society programming. Terry pointed out that COC prepared the slide programs for this purpose. No further funding was proposed.
HOW TO HELP NEWLY STARTING CANADIAN ORCHID SOCIETIES: The one year free COC newsletter seemed like a good idea.
OTHER BUSINESS
Kate Stuttaford from the COOS had written to Ingrid to ask if
the COC could act as an umbrella for society insurance purposes
in order to reduce costs. Margaret pointed out that her
experience with IODE shows this to be a cumbersome and costly
endeavour. She pointed out that their Society has an associate
membership in the Nova Scotia Association of Garden Clubs that,
for $50, gives their society coverage under their umbrella
policy. Some
thing like this might be available in other provinces.
FUTURE MEETINGS
2004 Vancouver BC May 1
2005 Calgary AB
2006 Ottawa ON ??
2007 Winnipeg MB ??
Discussion followed concerning the cost of holding the meeting. The venue is the most expensive part of the
venture. What is needed basically, is the normal show areas
plus a meeting room that will accommodate a few talks and the COC
AGM. Jean H. put forth a motion that the COC fund one major
speaker for the event to encourage attendance. Seconded Judy
Adams. This will be discussed next year because of time
restraints.
The purpose of COC news is to inform members of the meetings, policies of the COC, to profile members, and to provide technical information regarding happenings, trends and techniques in orchid culivation across the country and around the world.
We welcome your suggestions and contributions. Deadline for each issue is one month before the issue dates previously announced.
Recipients of this newsletter are strongly urged to pass a copy on to other members of their society
Officers of the Canadian Orchid Congress
President Ingrid Ostrander
250-652-0753
ifl@telus.net
Past President Lynne Cassidy
604-536-8185
lynne.cassidy@telus.net
Vice-President Margaret Blewett
902-827-2614
mblewett@accesswave.ca
Vice-President Lorne Heshka
204-663-6850
lheshka@escape.ca
Treasurer Janette Richardson
306-543-0560
dale.richardson@sasktel.net
Secretary Terry Kennedy
905-727-3319
ourtropics@ica.net
Education Mark Elliott
604-943-6979
melliott@mrl.ubc.ca
Conservation Marilyn Light
819-776-2655
mlight@igs.net
COC Web Site -
http://www.CanadianOrchidCongress.ca/
Please send in your show information - date, location,
contact, etc.