Cattleya walkeriana 'Luiz Castro III'

[Anglo]

There are four ‘Luiz Castro’ walkerianas, all of which were collected from a wild population. I have a machine translation of text from a Japanese web page that is confusing, but I presume it means that they were named after the man who found them. It reads, “This individual the famous collector of Brazil is the individual which entitle your own name.”

The plants were originally distinguished from one another with numeric suffixes, but the suffixes have been so commonly omitted for so many years that most walkeriana growers don't know which is which anymore. That is, if they even know that there are four different ones.

‘Luiz Castro III’ is my favorite because I like the balanced proportions and somewhat squarish shape of its flowers. ‘Luiz Castro IV’ is generally the most popular one, at least in part because of its large, round petals. ‘Luiz Castro II’ also has large, round petals that overlap with a teardrop-shaped opening between them, but it's not as well shaped overall. ‘Luiz Castro I’ is a nice example of C. walkeriana, but has no particularly distinctive features, which may be why it appears to be the rarest one in cultivation.

I’ve been looking for more information on these walkerianas for about three years now, and have found only scarce bits and pieces on Brazilian and Japanese web sites. Divisions have been popular in Japan for over 20 years that I know of, so there are occasional listings on Yahoo Japan Auctions that provide some interesting information. I’m not sure how reliable it all is, especially when I can’t halfway understand it.

I’d still like to learn just where and when they were discovered and if they really were found by the man they’re named for. Does anybody know anything more about their history?

[isurus79]

Wow, that is a wild plant! It looks amazing! Hopefully Mauro (Rosim_in_BR) or Harry (catwalker808) will chime. They probably know the most about this species on the board.

[Anglo]

Thanks, Steve. One thing I didn't mention is that these flowers are not as large as many walkerianas resulting from years of selective breeding, especially the polyploids. But they do have a very nice form and good substance.

[ChrisFL]

That is fantastic! I mean really fantastic. Maybe we can arrange a trade someday, Anglo. We live so close!

[Anglo]

Thanks, Chris -- maybe we can!

[xristie9]

I would like to hepl, trhoughout I konw a little japanese it would not be enought to understand a complex text... wish you good luch in searching...

[trdyl]

That is a little gem! Hope you find the info you are looking for.

[cb977]

[Leonardo Rodrigues]

I liked very much the article dealing to C. walkeriana
"Luiz Castro III". I don't know its author, but it seems to methat he likes very much C. walkeriana.
I'd like to know him, his name, and so on.
Nowadays we are making a research to find Mr. Luiz Castro, in order to inquire him about the wild plants he collected. He lives !!!
Finally we discovered where he is living,near Belo Horizonte city and we intend to visit him perhaps this week.
If possible, I would like to ask you to send me the photos of the other tree C.walkeriana "Luiz Castro" referred in oyour article.
We are member of ACW - that means Assotiation of Cattleya walkeriana, founded at 1999 in Brazil. It has a sister at Japan ACWJ, foundedat 2000.
Best regards. Leonardo Rodrigues

[catwalker808]

Hi Leonardo.
I recognized your name. It's nice to see you here for the first time.

It's good to have another reliable inquisitive resource person from Brazil. Mauro Rosim provides excellent insight from Brazil. And now we have another investigator

Sato san from Tokyo introduced you & me by email. You provided some excellent background detective work for my most recent C walkeriana article for this year's ACW Japan book.

Aloha & thanks again. Harry


Anglo.
I think Leonardo will be able to help answer your questions.