| ORCHID JUDGING SYSTEM
The
Australian Orchid Council Inc., formed in 1960, coordinates and
administers a national judging system of orchids in this
country. The judging system is managed by the Registrar
General of Judging, through a Deputy Registrar in each state or
territory. The Deputy Registrar, in turn, coordinates the
panel or panels of nationally accredited judges within his/her
state. The panels are located throughout each state.
Queensland and New South Wales have a large number of orchid
societies/clubs, and growers, hence have a greater number of judges
and judging panels.
A number of judging methods have been employed over
the years and standards have been, and continue to be, constantly
reviewed to allow for new developments. Since January 1999,
all orchids are judged by general appreciation rather than the
former regimented system of points for certain features of the
bloom. A panel of at least five fully accredited judges is
required to make an award. The panel then passes the
application, photos etc on to the Australian Orchid Council's
Registrar General via the state Deputy. Awards are now shown
thus: FCC/AOC (year).
The following are the AOC Award categories:
| FCC |
First Class Certificate |
85 points or more of possible
100 |
| AM |
Award of Merit |
80 to 85 points |
| HCC |
Highly Commended
Certificate |
75 to 80 points |
| AD |
Award of Distinction |
awarded for distinctive attributes
e.g. colour |
| CBM |
Certificate of Botanical
Merit |
|
| ACE |
Award of Cultural
Excellence |
85 points or more of possible
100 |
| ACM |
Award of Cultural Cultural
Merit |
80 to 85 points |
| ACC |
Award of Cultural
Commendation |
75 to 80 points |
| ASR |
Award of Special
Recognition |
|
Each year, the various panels nominate their choice for the AOC
Awards of the Year in four categories from those orchids
awarded in the previous calendar year. The categories
are:
AOC Orchid Hybrid of the Year
AOC Species Orchid of the
Year
AOC Award of Distinction of the Year
AOC Culture Award of
the Year
Copies of award images of these are circulated
to each panel for voting. The finalists are published in Orchids Australia magazine in
August. The winners are announced at the Annual General
Meeting of the AOC, usually in September or October. Winners
of awards since 1966 may be viewed on this site.
View now
Growers
who wish to have their plants judged
for any AOC award should make the necessary contact with their Regional
Registrar of Judges (Contact
info.). Each region (currently based on states) has its own
Regional Registrar, and in the larger states, there are to be found several
Sub-Regional Registrars who deputize for the Regional
Registrar. All award applications are sent to the Registrar General
via the Regional Registrar for processing.
It is possible for a
grower to present a plant for an award, and to present the same
plant at a later date for consideration for a higher award.
Last updated 11 October 2011
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