Cattleya warscewiczii (C. gigas) with flowers 12 in. tall ... a myth , or reality ??

[camille1585]

I did find some information in a french forum where the OP mentions that the flowers on his plant took 3 days unfurl to 30cm, and that the pbulb carrying the flowers is 10cm tall. There are photos of the plant, but nothing to indicate scale.

He also explains that optimal growing conditions and a limited number of buds per spike are necessary if you want to have giant flowers. However, the texture/substance of these giant flowers is extremely poor and they wilt very quickly. This is not desireable, and for this reason many people prefer plants that have a flower size in the 18-23cm range, because that's where you get the highest quality flowers...

[SouthPark]

Nice information Camille. I agree that 1 bud with no other ones on the spike can lead to the biggest size flowers ..... channelling everything into 1 bud.

[isurus79]

The largest awarded flower for this species in the AOS database is 21cm wide

[YYSRojas]

I'll share an anecdote about this species two years ago during the flowering season here in Medellin(April-May); I attended a flea market in the center of the city. Upon examining the boxes of orchids that the old-timers were selling, I ran into the largest specimen of warscewiczii I had ever seen. It was just towering out of the box, I looked around to see if anyone by chance had a measuring tape, and luckily a fellow checking out some cacti had one attached to his belt. The plant measured 23cm wide I quickly snapped a pic and told the seller to hold it for me while I ran to the ATM. Unfortunately, when I got back, his buddy had sold it. The moral of the story, always have cash in hand, lol. At least I have a pic for whatever that is worth.

[SouthPark]

YYSR ------ nice work on being able to get a pic!

[DirtyCoconuts]

Rojas- that is both amazing and tragic.

When my wife and I (used to) go to flea markets and garage sales I always tucked a 50 or 100 in my sock to “forget” about because one time something similar happened to me!!! I was broken but I was a mistake you only make once lol