C. walkeriana (not) ‘Kenny’

[Anglo]

The plant patent for Cattleya walkeriana ‘Kenny,’ issued to Limrick.RTM Orchid Nursery in June 1994, states that it is the result of a cross between Cattleya walkeriana ‘Pendentive’ var. alba (pod parent) and Cattleya walkeriana ’Hunabu.RTM’ var. semi-alba. I don’t know anything about the pollen parent, but ‘Pendentive’ is really a C. dolosa. It originated from a selfing of C. walkeriana ‘Orchidglade.’ Orchidglade’ is an apparent natural hybrid that was found in the wild. It’s called a walkeriana and its flower looks like C. walkeriana, but its pseudobulbs tend to be somewhat elongated. Some argue that ‘Orchidglade’ is a pure walkeriana, but I don’t see how it could be if ‘Pendentive’ resulted from a selfing of it.

In 2009, the American Orchid Society’s Species Identification Task Force concluded that ‘Kenny’ is a hybrid, and appears to be C. Snow Blind (C. Angelwalker x C. walkeriana var. alba ‘Pendentive’). I don’t know how they arrived at Snow Blind, particularly since 'Pendentive' is now known as a hybrid, but as you can see from the list of hybrids below, they are all combinations of walkeriana and loddigesii. The difference between C. dolosa and the others is that C. dolosa originated naturally. It is categorized as a species because it is genetically stable and reproduces in uniform populations.

C. dolosa - C. loddigesii x C. walkeriana; natural hybrid
C. Heathii - C. loddigesii x C. walkeriana; artificial hybrid
C. Obrieniana - C. loddigesii x C. dolosa
C. Little Angel - C. loddigesii x C. Obrieniana
C. Angelwalker - C. Little Angel x C. walkeriana
C. Snow Blind - C. Angelwalker x C. walkeriana

I’ve been interested in walkeriana-loddigesii hybrids for a long time. I decided to pick up this ‘Kenny’ mericlone awhile back for personal observation. The real confirmation for me that ‘Kenny’ is not a walkeriana is its fragrance. It has a dolosa fragrance with no detectable trace of the walkeriana scent.