Cattlianthe Eclipse (Cattleya maxima x Guarianthe skinneri) coerulea [?]

[bernardomantas97]

Hey again, everyone!

I'm making use of my lunch break to share these overnight opening blooms.

I got this plant on a clearance sale maybe 3 months ago, tagged as Cattlianthe Eclipse coerulea (Cattleya maxima coerulea x Guarianthe skinneri coerulea). In the time I've had it, a sheath came up and the buds had been growing for 2 weeks until they (FINALLY!) opened this past night.

I was not expecting this outcome, although I am VERY pleased. The colour is superb, definitely a coerulea; there's a faint (for now, at least) rosy, floral scent to the blooms, quite pleasant; very delicate and sparkly texture (hopefully you can see it better on the pictures taken with the flash on). I'll keep you guys posted as the flowers develop over the next few days.

I can not, for the life of me, see any maxima traits on these flowers; they look nothing alike the ones pictured on Orchidroots, for example, for this hybrid. I'm getting more of a warscewiczii coerulea vibe than a maxima coerulea, but if someone more knowledgeable could provide some more insight I'd appreciate it!

P.s.: There are more buds coming along, this will be a delight for quite a while, ahahahah!

[DirtyCoconuts]

i see a little maxima in the throat of that lip- stunning either way

[orchidman77]

Wow, you are lucky - stunning coerulea indeed! I'm not sure I see the maxima traits either, but it does appear to be a variable hybrid from orchidroots photos. Either way, the leaves seem semi-bifoliate (a few have pairs, a few don't) - this seems reasonable with the two species on the tag. It's also quite tall and both species can get long pseudobulbs, especially if it was made with the "lowland" maxima. The flowers and lip aren't quite warscewiczii to me, but if it's mislabeled, finding an exact ID is difficult. Was this a big box bag baby or do you think you could contact the original grower?

David

[bernardomantas97]

Originally Posted by orchidman77

Wow, you are lucky - stunning coerulea indeed! I'm not sure I see the maxima traits either, but it does appear to be a variable hybrid from orchidroots photos. Either way, the leaves seem semi-bifoliate (a few have pairs, a few don't) - this seems reasonable with the two species on the tag. It's also quite tall and both species can get long pseudobulbs, especially if it was made with the "lowland" maxima. The flowers and lip aren't quite warscewiczii to me, but if it's mislabeled, finding an exact ID is difficult. Was this a big box bag baby or do you think you could contact the original grower?

David

Greetings, David!

I was reviewing why I thought of warscewiczii and couldn't quite figure out why I mentioned it 🤣
Upon further research, I found what it reminded of: Odom's is selling lueddemannianas, and one of their pictures resembles more these blooms than any warscewiczii I could find online (possibly my mind thought of that but I just wrote something else) 😅

It came from a dealer who was about to quit the business, I assume the batch was imported from Thailand (as most of the others he had for sale). I'll try to get back to him, to see if I can find out more about it.

I'll also drop more pictures here, now that both flowers are properly open. The fragrance got stronger, still rosy-floral (very nice, honestly). The veining is also more defined, and the second bloom has somewhat recurved petals. The flowers are about 8cm tall and wide; petals and lip measure about 7cm, the sepals about 6.5cm (a fully flat flower should be around 13/14cm wide).

[orchidman77]

Stunning. I could see lueddemanniana in the lip shape! Good luck finding any additional information, and enjoy those blooms,

David

[bernardomantas97]

Greetings, everyone!

So, updates...
The previous blooming lasted for about 2 1/2 weeks (possibly cut short due to a sudden increase in temperature), the scent intensified quite a bit after a few days. I would say it smells more like roses than most roses I come across nowadays! 🤣
Fast forward a few days, the second growth put out 1 single bloom (no sheath this time), and the flower is somewhat bigger than the previous 2. I'll drop some pictures for you guys to enjoy this beauty as well. 😁