Adequate Labels for Plants and Flasks
If one intends to propagate plants, then they should be adequately labeled in regard to species, particular variety if the plant is of a variety of the species, and the source of the plant, both geographic locality where it originated and propagator or company. Having as much data as possible about an exceptional plant provides the ability to track parentage - both ancestral and progeny - as well as any taxonomic changes that may occur after the plant was obtained.
Stud Plants
We label each plant with as much as is known about it: species, variety, location from which its ancestor originated, source of the plant, and when it was obtained. For example, the label for one of our Cypripedium macranthos is "Cyp macranthos Irkutsk A SCL F2004." This means it is a Cypripedium macranthos, the parents of which grow near Irkutsk in Siberia and this is one of several plants, indicated by the label "A", that we obtained from Spangle Creek Labs in the shipment we received during the fall of 2004.
Flasks
Each flask is labeled with a cross identifier, the parents involved, and the dates of all reflaskings of the seedlings. In the figure, 2006-0728B indicates that this was the second pod processed on July 28, 2006. We keep a cross log that indicates all of the details of each specific cross and what happened to it. "Cyp reg VTLS CA" indicates that the pod parent was a Cypripedium reginae, "C. reginae VTLS C," one of several stud plants we maintain that we obtained during the fall of 2002 from Vermont Ladyslipper, and the pollen parent was another of those stud plants, "C. reginae VTLS A." "16Sep Malm" indicates that this flask is not a mother flask but rather a daughter flask that was prepared on September 16, 2006, using Malmgren's medium.
