Newly seen Bulbophyllum and their cultivation
by Roland Schettler

During the last years several Bulbophyllum species came to the collections of orchid growers and amateurs. Some of them are old friends but some are really new, they have fantasy names just to identify them. The difficulty for scientists is, without any origin, there is no chance to describe them. The plants came from collectors and breeders in Vietnam and the countries around. Some of them are very exciting, they produce lovely colors and unusual flower forms. For the reason that Bulbophyllum has somewhat as a renaissance some showy hybrids will also be shown. Examples for these new members of genus Bulbophyllum are Bulbophyllum lepidum, Bulbophyllum pectenveneris, Bulbophyllum retusiusculum and Bulbophyllum frostii.
Some outstanding cultivated examples have been shown and directions for cultivation and reproduction were given.

Roland Schettler, after studying theology, philosophy and biology, works as scientist at the field of biotechnology in the Institute of Pantbreeding, Bundesforschungsanstalt für Landwirtschaft in Braunschweig, Germany and also works as a high schoolteacher in Halver, Germany. He is one of the founders of Vereinigung Deutscher Orchideenfreunde and their president since 1995, since 1994 the Editor of Journal für den Orchideenfreund, author of several articles and Editor of two books in the field of orchids. He is a speaker and judge at WOCs and EOCs and advertiser of judging the WOC in Dijon, France.

Isozyme variation within the genus Dendrobium
by J. Devi, A. Mathews and P. C. Deka - India

Among orchids, Dendrobium, the second largest genus is known for their beautiful flowers and diverse morphological features. In north-east India, large number of Dendrobium species are found. With a view to know the variability and relatedness among these species, isozyme analysis were carried out. Ten different Dendrobium species and three isozymes namely, Esterase (Est), Glutamate Oxaloacetate Transaminase (GOT) and Catalase (Cat) were used. Three zones of esterase activity were observed. However, the number of bands varied between 1-4 depending on the species. Similarly, three zones of GOT banding was also recorded. D. aggregatum, D. primulinum, and D. amoenum showed 2 bands and demonstrated significant variation from rest of the group all of which depicted 4 similar bands. No catalase bands were observed in the species investigated except in the case of D. densiflorum where a dark slow migrating band was observed.
Dendrogram obtained through analysis of the isozyme data divided the orchid species into 5 clusters. The first cluster consisted of D. farmeri and D. densiflorum, the second cluster consisted of D. aphylum and D. transparens, the third cluster consisted of D. primulinum and D. amoenum, the fourth cluster consisted of D. moschatum and D. fimbriatum and the fifth cluster consisted of D. nobile and D. aggregatum. Jaccard’s distance values determined in the present investigation corroborated the results obtained by dendrogram analysis.

Dr. Jyostna Devi is an Associate Professor at the Department of Agricultural Biotechnology in the Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, India. She has written 4 chapters in books on orchids and has 30 research publications. She presented a lecture at the 12th EOC held at Copenhagen. Presently she is carrying out a Research Project on development of post harvest technology in orchids and other flowers.

The influence of geometric constraints on the colonization, speciation and range expansion of orchids on islands
by Dr David L. Roberts - England

The colonization and speciation of island floras has fascinated biologists since the days of Wallace and Darwin. This is due to their isolation which restricts the number of possible hypotheses that can explain evolution events. Species richness, along a gradient, is a well-known phenomenon and attempts have been made to correlate this with various environmental factors. However, the potential influence of non-biological factors has recently been highlighted. Since species ranges are constrained geometrically (i.e. an island surrounded by an ocean), the number of overlapping elevational ranges will be greater at mid-elevations and therefore species richness will be greater. This is termed the 'mid-domain effect' (MDE). In this study, species richness of orchids (Orchidaceae) was studied along the elevational gradients of the Mascarene Islands and the islands of the Gulf of Guinea. Here we show how geometric constraints can effect speciation, future colonization and range expansion.

Dr David L. Roberts works at the Herbarium of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England.

Development and flowering of achlorophyllous orchid, Epipogium roseum under cultivated condition.
by Takahiro Yagame, Masahide Yamato, Koji Iwase and Akira Suzuki - Japan

We have achieved cultivation of achlorophyllous orchid, Epipogium roseum (D.Don) Lindl. from seed germination to flowering in association with an applied mycorrhizal fungus isolated from the root of this plant. Though seed germination did not occur on the conventional oatmeal agar medium because of excessively vigorous growth of the mycorrhizal fungus, seed germination, mycorrhizal colonization and subsequent growth were properly induced in a soil medium containing sawdust and wheat bran. It was revealed that this orchid has a peculiar life cycle as follows. Subterranean stems were grown from a single protocorm, and tuberous roots were generated at knots of the subterranean stem. The tuberous roots were developed to so-called ‘coralloid rhizomes’ to form tubers, and the ‘coralloid rhizomes’ were subsequently degenerated with maturing of the tubers. Though 80 tubers were formed from a single protocorm within half a year, only some tubers were found to bear flowering stems. Others were remained underground and later formed a subterranean stem again. Thus, the tubers were regarded as an asexual reproductive organ in this orchid.

Dr. Takahiro Yagame is graduated at the School of Science and Technology, Chiba University, Japan

Snakeskin orchids – the Genus Oeceoclades
by Lourens Grobler

Terrestrial orchids are currently very popular in the orchid world and rightly so. The genus Oeceoclades offers a new dimension to the wide variety of terrestrial orchids currently grown around the world. Some species have leaves that resemble a python or viper and they can be grown for the enjoyment of their leaves only. Other species have been called “the Bugs” because the flowers resemble insects. The center of distribution is the amazing island Madagascar. The author will give a detailed presentation on this genus. Special attention will be given to the different species currently in cultivation and their culture.

Lourens Grobler is currently the youngest accredited judge of the South African Orchid Council and one of the directors. He travels extensively to photograph and study the orchid flora of Southern Africa and works in conjunction with local conservation authorities to determine the status of South Africa’s orchids. In 2004 he was a speaker at the Second International Orchid Conservation Congress (IOCC II) in Sarasota, Florida.



Three Kinds of Cytokinins Promotion Flowering of Cymbidium ensifolium var. misericors In vitro
by Chen Chang & Wei-Chin Chang - Taiwan

Cymbidium ensifolium var. misericors is a popular terrestrial orchid and is frequently marketed as a potted specimen. However, under greenhouse conditions, at least 5 years are required from sowing to flower development. This delay in flowering is a major problem in the breeding of terrestrial Cymbidium.
This investigation established totipotent callus cultures of Cymbidium ensifolium var. misericors from rhizomes. These calli could be induced to develop either rhizomes, shoot buds or granular embryoids. This work manipulated on cytokinin components to achieve mass flower induction and development from the cultured rhizomes. Development of a procedure for precocious flowering could allow pollen callus-derived rhizomes of Cymbidium ensifolium var. misericors produced flowers precociously on a defined medium. Among eight cytokinins, TDZ at 3.3-10 µM or 2iP at 10-33 µM combined with 1.5 µM NAA were the most effective combinations for achieving flower induction in vitro. These undersized flowers were physically normal and bloomed for two weeks in vitro.

Dr. Chen Chang is Ph.D. and works as an assistant research fellow in Department of botany of National Museum of Natural Science, Taichung, Taiwan.
Wei-Chen Chang works at the Institute of Botany, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China