Dtps Cain Xen Queen putting out two different kinds of flowers, in different colors.

[Lady_Ayla]

Hello there! I hope you may pardon me for my newness to your very informative forum.

I have come to ask an odd question, and may perhaps stay around a while, as orchids are an unknown to me

I have a DTPS Chain Xen Queen hybrid orchid which I bought at the local Lowes I was working at seasonally. It was on the half price "half dead" rack, and I jumped on it, as there was one flower bud still left, and the leaves looked good.

I have never had orchids before but have always loved epiphytes. Needless to say, I took almost daily care of this little orchid, nursing it back to good health, with almost five new leaves even as two old ones died off. It did, over time, sprout one flower from a new bud, as if in reward of my efforts. It was a typical white-yellow with red lip, and looked like a Phalaenopsis type, and according to the pictures I was seeing online about the hybrid, looked just as it should (when I bought it, it had no open flowers, so it was a surprise for me).

Here is an example of the flowering types that occurred at first:

However, over the past few weeks a new flower sprouted, has since bloomed, and surprise! it looks nothing like the other flower, even down to its very coloration along with shape as well.

Was this some sort of strange perk of the hybrid, or is there somewhat I know not of this orchid cross? Should I not care too much about this as it may be a fluke of its growth?

Here are two pictures, the first is the odd new flower, and the second is a separate, normal flower for this type (or what remains of it, as it has been withering and munched on by buggies. It is behind the other flower, facing the camera, the other flower is facing to the right in the same image):


By ladybrigid at 2010-07-18


By ladybrigid


My apologies for the image quality. I'll try to get a few more in the morning. You might not be able to really see the color variation, but the normal flower is white with red lip, the other is nearly solid canary yellow with red lip. Both are growing from the same stem, so I know it is from the same plant.