Vanilla planifolia
Encyclia cordigera
Welcome to the website of the McAllen International Orchid Society (MIOS) Journal. The MIOS Journal is a monthly print publication devoted to the study of orchids. It includes articles that are scientific, horticultural, historic, and popular in nature. The unifying theme is orchids. This website contains only a selection of articles from the printed journal.
The MIOS itself is physically located in McAllen, TX and conducts monthly meetings. However, it has corresponding members worldwide, including Canada, Mexico, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The society welcomes new members, wherever they may reside.
The next public meeting will be held on Sunday, June 7th at 2:30 p.m. at the Pecan Campus of the South Texas College in McAllen, TX (map). It will be held on the southwest side of the first floor of the STC Library in room F102.
The MIOS's annual membership fee for the year 2009 is twenty-five dollars U.S. ($25) and includes twelve monthly issues of the MIOS Journal (ISSN 1934-4880). Memberships begun mid-year will still receive all journal issues for that year. If interested in joining the society, please contact the MIOS for more information.
The MIOS Journal is always seeking new authors to write articles and book reviews on any aspect of orchids, be it scientific, horticultural, or popular. If interested in writing for the journal, or if you wish to submit an article for possible publication, please contact the editor.
También publicaremos artículos en español. Si Ud. ha escrito un artículo que tiene algo de ver con las orquídeas y lo quiere publicar, pongase en contacto con el editor.
[ Articles ]
"Vanilla planifolia - An Adventure in Pollination", T. D. Whippie
Pl. 170403-21. Vanilla planifolia, in JWT greenhouse. Digital photo: 16 April, 2009.
Vanilla is the only orchid to provide a fruit edible to humans and in doing so consistently provides its grower a wealth of challenges. Its production ranks with the most time consuming of the worlds spices for the many steps it must undergo before use; from hand pollination of the ephemeral flower to on-the-vine ripening of seed capsules that later become the repository of the vanilla flavor as we recognize it.
continued...[ Book Reviews ]
"Book Report: The Orchids of Russia and Adjacent Countries", Paul Martin Brown
Cover of Orchids of Russia and Adjacent Countries.
The Orchids of Russia... is a massive work covering much of Eastern Europe and northern Asia. It treats nearly all of the temperate terrestrial orchids to be found in that region, and is the first complete modern scientific treatment of the orchid flora of the former USSR . The authors studied orchids for more than 30 years, in different climatic zones--polar regions of the Cola Peninsula, temperate zones in Central Russia, Central Ukraine, Baltic Sea coast territories , Mediterranean regions in the Crimea and Caucasus, continental climate in Siberia and Central Asia , and monsoonic climate in the Far East of Russia. The first several chapters consist of detailed essays by the various authors entitled History and Contemporary Tendencies in Orchid Studies, Systematic Review, Species Distribution, Ecology and Phytocoenology, Morphology, Ontogenesis, Rhythm of Seasonal Development and Reproduction, Mycorrhiza, and Species Protection. The bulk of the book is devoted to the species descriptions and they are very complete and easy to understand. Throughout the book extensive use of references is made resulting in more than 70 pages in the bibliography. A brief glossary contains not only the technical terms but several Anglicized Russian terms that help in understanding the text. I now know that a Zapovendik is a highly protected area under government control that prohibits economic activities or, in layman's terms, it is a 'nature preserve.'
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