Cattleya warscewiczii size question

[jje10001]

Some additional provenance at the end of this entry regarding the rumored 'giant' warscewicziis of the past in The Cattleyas and Their Relatives Vol. 1 by Carl L. Withner.




Of note:
- 'Firmin Lambeau' can now be bought from Waldor as a virus-free mericloned seedling.
- I think that the giant 12-inch warscewicziis likely tended towards the description at the end- that they probably weren't giant round flowers, but rather starry ones.
- Would be interesting to figure out which nursery (Vacherot et Lecoufle?) the old hybrid was from, or what its identity was (surely there can't be that many french cattleya hybrids?).

[isurus79]

That's a good bit of info! I have the full Withner set, if anyone is interested in buying it.

[Manfred Busche]

Originally Posted by jje10001

Some additional provenance at the end of this entry regarding the rumored 'giant' warscewicziis of the past in The Cattleyas and Their Relatives Vol. 1 by Carl L. Withner.




Of note:
- 'Firmin Lambeau' can now be bought from Waldor as a virus-free mericloned seedling.
- I think that the giant 12-inch warscewicziis likely tended towards the description at the end- that they probably weren't giant round flowers, but rather starry ones.
- Would be interesting to figure out which nursery (Vacherot et Lecoufle?) the old hybrid was from, or what its identity was (surely there can't be that many french cattleya hybrids?).

Thank you a lot for this very interesting & valuable information !!

My comment to Withner's page 130 last paragraph ::

A bunch of 12 in. large flowers requires a large , sturdy plant to produce and then hold them. And any large Cattleya plants holding large flowers need sustained good cultivation consisting of full photosynthesis (not just 80% !!) and much water and much fertilizer.

I have recently provided all this to a young adult plant of C. warscewiczii (10 p.bulbs) , and the first bloom is three
well-spaced 9 in. large flowers showing saturated purple and excellent habit with a huge rounded front lpbe of
the lip.

My point :: obviously , we growers should provide good cultivation for a plant to be able to show it's full genetic potential. And Mr. Withner should have thought of this , or the lack of this , before making his "habit was poor" remarks.
(smile)

[Louis_W]

Wow that is a great find! To me that article says that the 12" plant was a genetic anomaly, probably a 5 or 6n that barely made it to flowering and managed to push out a freakish monsterous bloom. It explains why the rumors persist and that the species does not truely have that genetic potential under any kind of normal circumstances.

[Manfred Busche]

Two days ago I have obtained an adult clone of this :: Cattleya warscewiczii ('''Alexander'''s var.''' x '''Michael''' AM/AOS) (4N) - OrchidWeb

This plant has so far produced [12 p.bulbs + 9 leaves] which are 64 cm , i.e. 2+ feet , tall. The appearance of the whole plant can be described as 'huge' ...

Despite less than perfect cultivation by the previous owner , there is also one new growth , which still looks very much like a juvenile despite being 46 cm tall , which is as tall as most plants of other Cattleya species get as an adult.

I will now place this large plant onto a flat slat wood box filled with 'fibro de coco' , and straight away hang it into
bright light (full sun) and the wind , together with giving much water and fertilizer ... to thus entice this plant to hopefully make 12-in flowers soon ...

[orchidman77]

Very interested to see the outcome when your new plant blooms. I don't know of a current source in the US for confirmed 4N warscewiczii seedlings - I wonder if some nurseries are tightly holding onto their stock. Or, maybe the seedlings are hard to raise to seedling size.

[estación seca]

SVO periodically sells 4N warscewiczii seedlings. They sell out fast and grow like weeds.

[orchidman77]

Are they seedlings of confirmed 4N parent plants, or merely treated for tetraploid conversion that doesn't guarantee tetraploidy in the plants? I've purchased several (including treated warscewiczii), and SVO always makes that distinction clear. For instance, their February release included two separate selfings of confirmed 4N mossiae plants.

I'm guessing they hold onto seedlings exhibiting 4N characteristics to grow out and breed.

[estación seca]

Over the years I've seen them sell both.