| 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 1995 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 7 May 2009
|
