Ballpoint pen with orchid

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Lou Jost
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Ballpoint pen with orchid

Post by Lou Jost »

Ultima Gainia posted a ballpoint pen today. This reminded me of a micro-orchid picture I took about fifteen years ago using the tip of a ballpoint pen for scale (scanned from film). It turned out to be a new species but back then I didn't pay enough attention to it. It was found and described last year by others.
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peterkinchington
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Post by peterkinchington »

Hi Lou,
That is the smallest orchid I have ever seen - pity you did not describe it and get recognition for finding this species. What would pollinate these flowers?
Cheers Kanga
Try, try again. Fall down nine times get up ten.
www.peterkinchington.com

Lou Jost
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Post by Lou Jost »

No one knows what pollinates these. They don't get pollinated very often, so it takes a very patient person to discover such things!

I did discover a smaller one, which got an embarrassing amount of attention, so I don't mind that I missed the one pictured above:

http://www.independent.co.uk/environmen ... 31104.html

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... cture.html

https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/American_b ... est_orchid

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/e ... plant.html

However there are many ways to be the "smallest", and there are European and Asian orchids with even smaller flowers, though with larger plants. I should not have claimed that my orchid was absolutely the smallest.

MarkSturtevant
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Post by MarkSturtevant »

Very interesting. I don't know beans about orchids, but I had thought that the lower central petal is a sort of landing platform for a pollinator. If that is so, what use that petal be for such tiny flowers? Well, in my ignorance i am easily puzzled, certainly.
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters

Lou Jost
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Post by Lou Jost »

Mark, the petals and sepals help make the flower more conspicuous, and also ensure that the insect interacts with the lip (the modified petal) from the right side. Orchid pollination depends on precision positioning of the pollinator, and it won't work if the pollinator lands on the lip from the back. But even if the petals were under no selective pressure at all during the flowering, they would still be important to protect the lip during development, before the flower opens.

Beatsy
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Post by Beatsy »

When you said small in other posts, I didn't realise you meant THAT small. Crikey! How do you even spot the things?

Lou Jost
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Post by Lou Jost »

We look for the plants, not the flowers. These plants are also small but they have some special characteristics, and I have learned to spot them from a great distance.

I was with another orchid specialist at the time we found this flower, and I remember discussing with him whether this was a flower or a piece of debris...we had to look at it under a loupe to be sure.

Beatsy
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Post by Beatsy »

Lou Jost wrote:We look for the plants, not the flowers. These plants are also small but they have some special characteristics, and I have learned to spot them from a great distance...
Gotcha. I know what you mean too. Many years ago I did a lot of treasure hunting (scrap metal detecting) and picked up the same skill with coins. I can still spot the rim of a grubby old coin partially peeking through ploughed soil from 20 feet away! I don't really see it so much as unconsciously sense the small curved edge - which makes me go and look closer. Amazing things, brains.

Lou Jost
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Post by Lou Jost »

That's exactly how it is with these plants. The forest is full of leaves but these things just pop out at me unconsciously.

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