ok...first, regarding the "perfection" of the flowers... it does not mean thatthe flowers are "perfect" according to AOS standards, but that the flowers have both sexes "viable"... yes, a rather misleading wording for this...
as for the longivity of the flowers, IMO the addition is based mainly on the fact that the "antennae" are not present anymore, and therefore the flowers do not loose the pollinia (with the consequent death with 24h)... If I would have to put a scalation of longevity (taking only male flowers into consideration) it would be Catasetum, Cycnoches, Mormodes, Clowesia... being Clowesia theones lasting longer... however, the difference would be just days, if we start with the premise: same conditions, and no pollinia lost!
When I grew Catasetinae outdoors in Venezuela, the flowers never last for more than 4-5 days (bees are very active!), growing plants indoors in my appartmente, increased the average to 14-17 days.... now in the greenhouse (higher humidity and better control of temp) I have Catasetum, Cycnoches and Clowesia with flowers lasting up to 3 weeks (in winter - cooler temps), but 7 - 10 days for those blooming in the middle of the hot summer!
|
Linear Mode
