What’s My Name and What Does It Mean?
First and foremost, keep the tag with the plant. An unnamed plant cannot be judged in AOS competition and cannot be sold at the OSM plant sales. The tag is very important and carries a lot of information.
What information?
The tag tells you about the plant and its breeding. The upper and lower case of letters as well as the spelling and quote marks are all key elements.
We’ll examine two examples below and see what they tell us.
Example 1: Blc. Toshie Aoki ‘Pizazz’ AM AOS (Blc Faye Miyamota x Blc Waianae)
- Blc. = the genus, or in this case, the breeding. This particular cross is Brassovala x Laelia x Cattleya.
- Toshie Aoki. Note the capitalization. This is important, as it denotes this plant as a hybrid. The person that makes a cross, flowers it, and registers it first is entitled to name it with the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society). After that, all hybrids of that same breeding will be named the same grex name.
- ‘Pizazz‘ = the clonal or cultivar name. When a particularly stunning flower results from a hybrid cross, the plant will be given a clonal name to distinguish it from its siblings or other plants of the same cross. If a newly awarded plant does not have a clonal name, the name is given by the owner at the time of the award. Cultivar name: Mericlones or divisions carry on the clonal name of that specific plant. Many times the awarded plants are mericloned for distribution.
- AM AOS. This tells you the plant has been awarded. This is an Award of Merit by the American Orchid Society. Any divisions or meristem clones of this plant will also carry this award since they are all, in essence, the same plant. There are many award levels and classifications; those given by the AOS are always noted as such. There are also many awards outside of the AOS and they are also noted.
- (Blc. Faye Miyamota x Blc. Waianae) – These are the parents that were crossed to make this hybrid.
Example 2: Laelia rubescens var. alba
- Laelia – the genus
- rubescens – Note the lower case of the name; lower case tells you that this is a naturally occurring species.
- var. alba – the varietal name. Some orchids receive a varietal name to indicate differences in color, shape or growth that occur naturally in the wild and display definite characteristics that breed true.
More about those letters following the plant name:
The American Orchid Society grants the following awards to orchid plants and their exhibitors:
- HCC (Highly Commended Certificate) — awarded to orchid species or hybrids scoring 75 to 79 points inclusive on a 100-point scale.
- AM (Award of Merit) – awarded to orchid species or hybrids scoring 80 to 89 points inclusive on a 100-point scale.
- FCC (First Class Certificate) – the highest flower-quality award, awarded to orchid species or hybrids scoring 90 points or more on a 1OO-point scale.
- JC (Judges’ Commendation) – given for distinctive characteristics that the judges unanimously feel should be recognized but cannot be scored in the customary ways.
- AD (Award of Distinction) – awarded once to a cross representing a worthy new direction in breeding. The award is granted unanimously without scoring by the judging team assigned.
- AQ (Award of Quality) – awarded once to a cross exhibited by a single individual as a group of not less than 12 plants or inflorescences of different clones of a hybrid or cultivated species. At least one of the inflorescences must receive a flower quality award and the overall quality of the group must be an improvement over the former type.
- CBR (Certificate of Botanical Recognition) – awarded to rare and unusual species with educational interest that has received no previous awards. The entire plant must be exhibited. This award is granted provisionally and filed with the judging center Chair pending taxonomic verification supplied by the exhibitor. (see Taxonomic Authorities)
- CHM (Certificate of Horticultural Merit) – awarded to a well-grown and well-flowered species or natural hybrid with characteristics that contribute to the horticultural aspects of orchidology, such as aesthetic appeal. This award is granted provisionally and filed with the judging center Chair pending taxonomic verification supplied by the exhibitor.
- CCM (Certificate of Cultural Merit) – awarded to the exhibitor of a well-flowered specimen plant of robust health. The plant must score more between 80 and 89 points inclusive on a 100-point scale.
- CCE (Certificate of Cultural Excellence) – awarded to the exhibitor of a well-flowered specimen plant of robust health. The plant must score more than 90 points on a 100-point scale. Plants receiving this award represent the highest level of orchid culture.
For more information, please go to www.AOS.org.
