4 ms·

"Because of its rarity, the locations of the orchids are a secret." I always have mixed feelings when reading things like that. Specially for such a beautiful

"Because of its rarity, the locations of the orchids are a secret." I always have mixed feelings when reading things like that. Specially for such a beautiful flower! Let's hope they find a way to reproduce them in the lab and end with the secrecy.

ars 12y ago
The flower is underground, you wouldn't see it anyway.
- iamcurious 12y ago
  Without disturbing them, yes. Having the location publicly known would just serve as an invitation for amateurs to disturb it. On the other hand, some amateur might find a way of finding other specimens with less effort. I understand their point of view and, at least temporally, it might be the best course of action. I just wish, as a matter of principle, that there was no need for secrecy.
  - Alex3917 12y ago
    Its generally pretty easy to find plants just by using Google maps. You can't see the plants themselves, but you can make an educated guess about which sites will have the appropriate terrain and microclimate. It is enough work though to deter people who are only casually interested. If there really are only a handful left then that probably doesn't work in this case, but for most things that are merely uncommon it's a pretty good technique.
    - Mz 12y ago
      You seem to presume that most folks know a great deal about a great many things that they likely do not know. I would have no idea how to even begin doing such a thing and I was one of the top three students of my graduating high school class, got my AA cum laude (etc, etc).
      - kaybe 12y ago
        Huh. I could probably do that.. Begin with reading books about meteorology, starting with general introductions and branching into microclimate, then geology and geography, again introductions first and then more detailed works about the climate zone you're interested in. You should be able to get books about smaller regions, continents is easy, many countries can be done. And of course, you'll need information about the plants you're looking for - what kinds of water, light, nutrients is best and what is permissable, deduce from this the possible places and the plants that should go with it. Could also help to look at pests the plant is susceptible to. If you need more details, you can get into the recent literature which might not have made it into a book yet or which is not part of a big-enough field. You should be able to understand most by now; refer back to the books if there are issues. Any university library should be able to offer these; if you buy it'll easily be a few hundred since one book can cost over 150€. So there. Edit: Once you get enough into the details, it's also a good idea to start asking people. (And the way your comment's parent put it, there should be a community around who has very detailed knowledge about these things. Befriending them would help. Or try to shoot an email to any professor, most of them are very open to reasonable enquieries (which are not demands to prove your perpetuum mobile idea please.. some people..) But then again, how far do you want to go?)
        ionwake 12y ago
        Good reply
      - Alex3917 12y ago
        You're making it out to be way more complicated than it actually is. A good example is that there is a certain type of mushroom that only grows out of wood buried in river sediment. So you use Google maps to look for where rivers have bends where wood would likely wash up when they flood. You need to actually visit a few sites in person in order to calibrate your satellite reading ability, but it doesn't take more than a couple days or require any specialized knowledge. You can also download data on the soil types, trees, rainfall, temperature, forest fires, etc., but again even this just requires a couple days of googling and reading stuff.
madaxe_again 12y ago
Holoparasites are, so far, virtually impossible. See rafflesia, for instance. Haustorium's one hell of an organ - most likely how this orchid extracts nutrients from the mycelium.

ars 12y ago

The flower is underground, you wouldn't see it anyway.

iamcurious 12y ago
Without disturbing them, yes. Having the location publicly known would just serve as an invitation for amateurs to disturb it. On the other hand, some amateur might find a way of finding other specimens with less effort. I understand their point of view and, at least temporally, it might be the best course of action. I just wish, as a matter of principle, that there was no need for secrecy.
- Alex3917 12y ago
  Its generally pretty easy to find plants just by using Google maps. You can't see the plants themselves, but you can make an educated guess about which sites will have the appropriate terrain and microclimate. It is enough work though to deter people who are only casually interested. If there really are only a handful left then that probably doesn't work in this case, but for most things that are merely uncommon it's a pretty good technique.
  - Mz 12y ago
    You seem to presume that most folks know a great deal about a great many things that they likely do not know. I would have no idea how to even begin doing such a thing and I was one of the top three students of my graduating high school class, got my AA cum laude (etc, etc).
    - kaybe 12y ago
      Huh. I could probably do that.. Begin with reading books about meteorology, starting with general introductions and branching into microclimate, then geology and geography, again introductions first and then more detailed works about the climate zone you're interested in. You should be able to get books about smaller regions, continents is easy, many countries can be done. And of course, you'll need information about the plants you're looking for - what kinds of water, light, nutrients is best and what is permissable, deduce from this the possible places and the plants that should go with it. Could also help to look at pests the plant is susceptible to. If you need more details, you can get into the recent literature which might not have made it into a book yet or which is not part of a big-enough field. You should be able to understand most by now; refer back to the books if there are issues. Any university library should be able to offer these; if you buy it'll easily be a few hundred since one book can cost over 150€. So there. Edit: Once you get enough into the details, it's also a good idea to start asking people. (And the way your comment's parent put it, there should be a community around who has very detailed knowledge about these things. Befriending them would help. Or try to shoot an email to any professor, most of them are very open to reasonable enquieries (which are not demands to prove your perpetuum mobile idea please.. some people..) But then again, how far do you want to go?)
      - ionwake 12y ago
        Good reply
    - Alex3917 12y ago
      You're making it out to be way more complicated than it actually is. A good example is that there is a certain type of mushroom that only grows out of wood buried in river sediment. So you use Google maps to look for where rivers have bends where wood would likely wash up when they flood. You need to actually visit a few sites in person in order to calibrate your satellite reading ability, but it doesn't take more than a couple days or require any specialized knowledge. You can also download data on the soil types, trees, rainfall, temperature, forest fires, etc., but again even this just requires a couple days of googling and reading stuff.

madaxe_again 12y ago

Holoparasites are, so far, virtually impossible. See rafflesia, for instance. Haustorium's one hell of an organ - most likely how this orchid extracts nutrients from the mycelium.