2 different color flowers on 1 orchid?!

[GracieGoodman]

I saw this phal in Walmart the other day, it had two completely different flowers on it. They were two different colors! One of them was a nice magenta-salmon color while the other was a soft yellow with magenta flaring in the corners of the petals. Of course I bought the orchid (wouldn't pass up an opportunity like this one!) I'm very curious to see how it will bloom next season and see if it will have the two different flowers like it did this year. Is this really rare or something? I know that little subtle differences in the shape and in the color of the flowers are pretty uncommon, but what about the whole flower being different? Here are the photo's:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing

[Irielicious]

Wow that is so cool! As a novice I have no idea how common or uncommon something like that is in orchids in particular...In genetics I learned about how during a process called "cross-over" tons of diversity comes about in many organisms. This is how to full blood siblings can look nothing a like, where one can be blonde and another a redhead. I assume this could have something to do with how this plant is able to put out flowers two different color flowers. I wonder if the flowers look like what each parent looked like or a mixture of the two and then maybe just one of one parent! Fascinating!

[AnonYMouse]

I can't contribute to the color discussion but I recommend raising the plant so the leaf axils are above the media.

[GracieGoodman]

Originally Posted by Irielicious

Wow that is so cool! As a novice I have no idea how common or uncommon something like that is in orchids in particular...In genetics I learned about how during a process called "cross-over" tons of diversity comes about in many organisms. This is how to full blood siblings can look nothing a like, where one can be blonde and another a redhead. I assume this could have something to do with how this plant is able to put out flowers two different color flowers. I wonder if the flowers look like what each parent looked like or a mixture of the two and then maybe just one of one parent! Fascinating!

Yeah, I'm going to contact the orchid seller and ask them about who the parents are. If I do get the parents and if it blooms like it does next season I might enter it in an orchid show.

[BillieG]

That is neat!

[estación seca]

Might there be two plants in the pot?

[Irielicious]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Might there be two plants in the pot?

I wondered that too but it didn't look like it from the pictures...Plus if you look at the pic on the right one flower stem has both color flowers on it!!! Sooooooooo cool!

[pipsxlch]

my first instinct is the same as estacion seca's, but it's not uncommon for temp. etc. during development to affect flower color, sometimes pretty profoundly.

[Irielicious]

Originally Posted by pipsxlch

my first instinct is the same as estacion seca's, but it's not uncommon for temp. etc. during development to affect flower color, sometimes pretty profoundly.

That is interesting that is pretty cool to know!

[Fairorchids]

It is not common, but there are known cases.

As mentioned above, temperature during bud development plays a role.

Light level during bud development plays a role.

I have an Ascofinetia Peaches, which produces flowers in two colors on the same spike. And, some of the flowers will have a couple of segments in each color.

I wonder whether the plant in question might be a chimera (one egg cell, two pollen with diferent genes)?