Thursday, January 10, 2013

Pretty (?) pictures: Schoenorchis paniculata

Well, I suppose it's different, at least.




No, the scale situation has not improved. I have so far (as of last night) dumped approximately 2 pounds of imidacloprid granules into about 500 plants' pots. The idea is to do everything in the basement, and leave the scale nowhere to run. This is tedious, exhausting, depressing, and very possibly unhealthy, but it will be worth it if it gets rid of the scale.

If it doesn't, well. Let's just say you wouldn't want to be here when I discover the survivors.


8 comments:

Liza said...

What a bummer, mr_s. I hope nuking them works, I'll be pulling for you (and the plants).

Ivynettle said...

The "Pretty (?)" in the title becomes extremely amusing when you know that schön/schoen means "beautiful" in German. (No idea if that's where the name comes from, though.) And then when I think about what "orchis" means, it sounds even funnier.

Pat said...

Ivynettle, that was my first thought on seeing the picture - if that is from the German there must be some very different species in the genus.

I looked it up and schoinos meant rush (like a bulrush) or rope.

Ivynettle said...

@ Pat: Ah. I googled a bit, but couldn't find anything (didn't have a lot of time). I didn't really believe it came from the German word (although it could have been named after a guy called Schön...)

Diana said...

If you do end up using a thermonuclear device to get rid of the scale be sure to collect seeds afterwards. That radiation could cause some seriously cool mutations!!

Anonymous said...

Hi! Off-topic alert.

This time of year, having plants is doing wonders for my brain chemistry. I've been puzzling, though. I got some Tradescantia NOID cuttings from you last summer-ish (which I think are actually Tradescantia pallida x T. sillamontana -- I don't remember where I found that and I have no comment on a patent, ahem heh heh). I was wondering how blooming has gone for you, if any. I was expecting it to make pallida-like flowers, but it made the regular spiderwort cup things a couple months ago and hasn't visibly opened its buds -- finally I got impatient enough to inspect closer, and I think there are sometimes minuscule spent-flower jelly-balls down in its fur (oh, my technical jargon, I know, I know).

Gyah, I hope that made sense. Basically, I'm wondering if the hybrid is just mechanically inept at opening its flowers. I took this picture today -- albeit with a webcam -- so, um, yeah. Don't want to bother you but I'm geeking out (as best a n00b can) and wondered if you might put this to rest by saying "Why yes, it blooms normally, you're just pissing it off." Either way, I adore the plant immensely.

http://i.imgur.com/cyQkM.jpg

(This is staged; the aroids don't really live right there. And now I'm self-conscious about all the plants but . . . aw hell.)

mr_subjunctive said...

Anonymous:

T. pallida x sillamontana is certainly plausible; its characteristics definitely overlaps with both.

I've never seen flowers, as far as I can recall. We even had some planted outside. The ones outside weren't in the best spot -- fence maybe 10 feet to the north, house about 5 feet to the east and immediately to the south -- so that's not conclusive, but that's as conclusive as I can get.

The parent plant is presently in the basement, where it's getting enough light to turn purple, so I'd think it would be blooming if it were capable of it, unless there's some kind of day-length or temperature issue. T. spathacea has flowered abundantly in similar conditions.

I can't definitely say that it's unable to flower, but I can at least confirm that it tends not to.

Paul said...

Schoenorchis can have some pretty flowers -- but you may need a magnifying glass to appreciate them. I don't believe any member of that genus produces large flowers.