Brazilian Laelia (Cattleya) Bud Watch - Orchid Board

Roberta · #1 06-07-2021, 08:34 PM

Laelia (Cattleya) purpurata season is getting close! Here is L. purpurata f. schusteriana (a semi-alba form) - first the root porn (there was a clay pot, then a plastic basket, solid roots in between) and then the buds. This is not a mini... plant is about 24-30 inches (61-76 cm), the sheaths are at least 6 inches (15 cm), maybe more. There's one sheath with 3 buds peeking out, and behind it on another growth (you can barely see it) another spike with 2 buds. Not sure if there are more, it's hanging up pretty high and I don't want to take it down until it blooms. Then, there's Laelia (Cattleya) lobata f. alba. Smaller, but I count 4 spikes with 4 buds each. That's going to put on a good show too. This is just the start...

yug · #2 06-07-2021, 08:41 PM

So, how is Laelia purpurata var Schusteriana different from the rest of the pack?

Nice buds, by the way.

I have one, but it has not bloomed yet this year.

Roberta · #3 06-07-2021, 08:49 PM

There are a lot of named color forms. Frankly, I can't tell a schusteriana from a roxo-violeta... both are semi-albas with dark purple lips. Semi-alba actually covers a range of colors from more red to darker purple. Some forms are distinctive - like werkhauseri is a semi-alba with lip that is a slate blue-violet. And carnea is dark pink (also with white flower). Then there are all the pink-purple petaled forms with various markings (like flamea and striata and sanguinea) None of the color forms have any "official" standing. They are just descriptive. (That's why they should be referred to as "forma" or "form" - f.or fma. - rather than variety - var., which usually refers to a regional cluster) If you're entering these in a Brazillian L. purpurata show, then you will need to be more precise on the color forms.

There are lots of crosses between the forms - they're all still "purpurata" - the species. But that makes the lines between the forms even fuzzier. ( I have one with a cultivar name 'Tipo' x self which would imply a lavender flower... but it turns out it was given the cultivar name when it got an award, the awarded plant WAS a typical form... but it was line bred... getting the variations of a seed cross when it was selfed, mine happens to be pure white ... and Fred Clarke, from whom I got it, said that quite a few of the plants did come out alba so clearly that form is also in its ancestry.)

Take a look at my website... This is the page for the L. purpuratas that live at my house... Laelia purpurata

Steve83 · #4 06-07-2021, 09:06 PM

Those are some fantastic looking plants.

On a scale of C. aurantiaca to B. nodosa or Myrmecophila, where are you with light levels for C. purpurata?

Roberta · #5 06-07-2021, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve83

Those are some fantastic looking plants.

On a scale of C. aurantiaca to B. nodosa or Myrmecophila, where are you with light levels for C. purpurata?

Thanks! Mine grow in the same area as C. aurantiaca. A little less light than Myrmecophila tibicinis, which is with the L. anceps (the only Myrmecophila species that I grow, most of the rest are warmer-growing) B. nodosa gets quite a bit less light (but I also grow it in the GH during the colder half of the year) The purpuratas, and most of the rest of the bigger Catts, are hanging under 60% shade cloth under open sky.

yug · #6 06-07-2021, 11:55 PM

Lovely 'purp' photos. My Schusteriana did not look like yours. Mine was more like the Roxo-violeta, and the white area in the bottom center of the lip was almost non-existent. Maybe the 'Schusteriana' was from a specific plant, and only the divisions of that are actual Schusteriana's, with all the rest just looking similar, but not the carriers of the name.

Jeff214 · #7 06-08-2021, 02:01 AM

Looks like it's going to be an awesome laelia bloom! I just started collecting purpuratas / lobatas and they've got a ways to go. How old are your plants?

A few weeks ago, I did see a pure white purpurata in bloom at SVO with the most fantastic scent (fancy fruit loops is the best I can describe it). Maybe it was from the same batch as yours. Sadly it wasn't for sale. Very different from crispa which has a heady rose fragrance.

Roberta · #8 06-08-2021, 10:18 AM

I have been acquiring purps for a long time... some I have had for 15 years or more, some much more recent. There are a few Santa Barbara Orchid Estate $7.50 show specials that have grown up. That big one I showed was "inherited" from an elderly grower (a large division), so I have had it for about 8 years but the plant is much older. I have found that different color forms have slightly different bloom times, so the fun goes on until at least mid-July.

smweaver · #9 06-10-2021, 07:04 AM

I like all of those beautiful roots--and the fat, robust pseudobulbs. I think this is one of the few cattleya alliance species that look rather attractive even without blooms.

Roberta · #10 06-11-2021, 08:39 PM

The show is starting! First flowers open on L. pupurata and L. lobata f. alba . More to open in a few days and these will reach their optimum form (and the pure white of the flowers will develop better) , then I'll bring them down to eye level for the "beauty shots". It is so much fun to watch those big, fat buds start to pop.