What Blc, Bulb., and AM/AOS Mean in Kaleialoha Orchid Farm Inc. Product Names

Updated

In the Kaleialoha Orchid Farm Inc. catalog, the short forms in product names are standard orchid shorthand: Blc and Bulb. identify the genus or hybrid group of the plant, while AM/AOS and similar tags record an award the plant or its clone has received from the American Orchid Society. These labels tell you what kind of orchid you are buying and, when an award tag is present, that the plant has been judged to a recognized standard. They are naming conventions, not care instructions or price guarantees.

The genus and hybrid abbreviations

Orchid growers abbreviate genus names because full names are long and because hybrids are written as combinations of genera. On the Kaleialoha listings you can see this pattern directly:

Label in product name What it stands for Example from the catalog
Blc Brassolaeliocattleya, a Cattleya-alliance hybrid genus Blc Tainan Gold 'Canary' AM/AOS
Bulb. Bulbophyllum Bulbophyllum barbigerum 'Elizabeth'
Bulb. in a cross A Bulbophyllum hybrid between two species or hybrids Bulb lasiochilum x bicolor; Bulb. odoratum x sib

A few conventions follow from this:

  • A dot after the abbreviation (Bulb.) is just punctuation for a shortened genus name.
  • An "x" between two names marks a cross, as in Bulb lasiochilum x bicolor — the first parent is listed first.
  • "x sib" means the cross was made between two siblings from the same hybrid grex, not between two different species.
  • A name in single quotes — 'Canary', 'Elizabeth', 'Lil' — is a cultivar or clone name, identifying one particular plant selection within that grex.

So "Blc Tainan Gold 'Canary'" reads as: a Brassolaeliocattleya hybrid named Tainan Gold, with the specific clone 'Canary'.

What AM/AOS and CBR/AOS mean

Tags containing AOS are award notations from the American Orchid Society. In the catalog you can see two forms:

  • AM/AOS — Award of Merit, a flower-quality award given by AOS judging. It appears on Blc Tainan Gold 'Canary' AM/AOS.
  • CBR/AOS — Certificate of Botanical Recognition, given for botanically significant species or distinctions. It appears on Bulbophyllum biflorum 'Lil' CBR/AOS.

The award tag is attached to the cultivar name, which is why it sits after the quoted clone name rather than after the genus. In practical terms, an award tag signals that this particular clone has been evaluated by AOS judges — it does not describe the size of the plant you will receive, its blooming status, or its price.

How to read a full product name

Take Bulbophyllum biflorum 'Lil' CBR/AOS and read it left to right:

  1. Bulbophyllum — the genus.
  2. biflorum — the species.
  3. 'Lil' — the cultivar/clone name.
  4. CBR/AOS — the award notation for that clone.

For a hybrid like Blc Tainan Gold 'Canary' AM/AOS, the same order applies, except the genus-plus-greg name (Blc Tainan Gold) replaces the species name.

Why these labels matter when choosing a plant

The abbreviations let you sort the catalog by plant group before you look at anything else. If you already grow Bulbophyllum, the Bulb. listings — Bulbophyllum barbigerum 'Elizabeth', Bulbophyllum corolliferum, Bulbophyllum Daisy Chain — are the relevant group; if you are shopping the Cattleya alliance, the Blc listing is the one to examine. The award tag is a separate filter: it tells you the clone has been judged, which is useful context but not a substitute for checking the listing's own details.

Two practical cautions follow from the catalog itself:

  • Award tags and availability are independent. Blc Tainan Gold 'Canary' AM/AOS is marked Sold out in the listing, so an award name does not mean the plant is in stock.
  • Prices vary within the same genus group. Bulbophyllum listings in the catalog range from $22.00 to $37.00, and the awarded Bulbophyllum biflorum 'Lil' CBR/AOS is listed at $27.00 — so the award tag is not a price tier.

Quick reference

  • Blc = Brassolaeliocattleya (Cattleya-alliance hybrid genus).
  • Bulb. = Bulbophyllum.
  • x = a cross between the two named parents.
  • x sib = a cross between siblings of the same grex.
  • 'Name' = cultivar/clone name.
  • AM/AOS = Award of Merit from the American Orchid Society.
  • CBR/AOS = Certificate of Botanical Recognition from the American Orchid Society.

Use the genus abbreviation to pick your growing group, the quoted name to identify the exact clone, and the AOS tag as a judging record — then confirm stock and price on the individual product listing, since neither is implied by the name.