Cattleya mossiae 'Willowbrook' FCC/AOS

[Bayard]

[Bud]

What striking colors ! They seem to be very large...are they fragrant?

[isurus79]

Wow, those colors really pop!

[silken]

Wow, what rich colours. Gorgeous blooms!

[smweaver]

These are beautiful. And this clone, in spite of all the controversy surrounding its authenticity and possible influence from C. lueddemanniana, does look to me like C. mossiae, especially those big floppy petals (and I mean "floppy" in a good way!). The fragrance should be a give-away also. While C. lueddemanniana has a very good fragrance, C. mossiae's is extravagant and nearly intoxicating. Congratulations on your flowers. They're incredible.

[tuvoc]

Fantastic color. Wish mine would hurry up and bloom.

Kim

[RosieC]

What wonderful colour!

[tucker85]

That's probably the best Cattleya mossiae I've seen. Good growing.

[Bayard]

Thank you all!

Bud - flowers are fragrant and average 6 inches / 15cm across.

Steve - The thing that really caught my attention the first time I encountered this beauty was the intense fragrance! I remember reading an article or letter in an old AOS Bulletin from one of the persons responsible for the line that gave us the 'Willowbrook' clone. They said it was a result of five generations of breeding. I think the chunkiness of the flowers is due to polyploidy, but what makes me wonder about the genetic makeup is the fact that it blooms rather early in the C. mossiae season. It certainly could have some C. luddemanniana in it's genes, but that should shift the flowering time to later in the Spring. Who knows? The only way to really know what's in this plant is to locate unique genetic markers in both species and then compare them to the DNA of the 'Willowbrook' or 'Panther Creek' clones. Any takers?

[Vanda lover]

The colour is really vivid! Gorgeous Catt and great photo! Fragrant too. You did hit the jackpot.