Den. Australian Tiger

[Roberta]

Den. speciosums are getting close, but some of the hybrids are already blooming. Here is Den. Australian Tiger (Den. Aussie Parade x Den. Hilda Poxon) It also has lots of influence from Den. tatragonum, the red stripes. This is several generations removed from the species, but the species breakdown is 56.7% Den tetragonum, 25% Den speciosum, about 12.5% Den. falcorostrum, and 6.3 % Den. kingianum. Whew! And this is the result. I got it as an unnamed cross from Sunset Valley Orchids, it has since been registered.

Like the species in its background, basically tough as nails.

[Clawhammer]

Love it, especially the lip!

[DirtyCoconuts]

these look hand painted!

how large is the plant? is this the only flowering lead? i bet this would look intense with a sea of blooms

[Roberta]

Here are some more pix (not "beauty shots"). Plant is about 10 inches (25 cm) tall. It's blooming from a keiki, has buds from a "primary growth" that are just getting started, and buds from a bare, leafless cane. So not a massive bloom, it's trying to figure out what it wants be when it grows up. That large dose of Den tetragonum has kept the influence of the speciosum (which gets huge) and falcorostrum (which isn't as big but is still substantial) down to a very manageable size. It keikis a lot. So at least so far, I have not gotten a flush bloom from it, but rather a longer bloom since the different growths seem to mature the flowers at different rates.

[Clawhammer]

How's the fragrance? I have a couple similar crosses from Fred.

[Roberta]

Den. Unnamed [Den Autumn x (Regal Affair x Aussie Victory)]

Here's another plant, with similar ancestry, a few more species in there diluting the tetragonum, and complex - not likely to get registered, one of the parents is also unregistered. Plant is bigger, about 18 inches/46 cm . Similar pattern of maturing the buds on different growths over a couple of weeks. So there are lots of variations on the theme.

[Roberta]

Little or no fragrance that I can detect on either of these. Fragrance seems to be the first feature to vanish when hybrids get complicated.

[KatieM]

That is absolutely stunning, Roberta!

[Roberta]

Thanks! Advantage of living where I do, and over the years attending a lot of orchid club meetings... Many plant tables from Sunset Valley Orchids (also local), which tend to include lots of Aussie Dendrobiums. So I have amassed a fair-sized collection of these. And they grow here outdoors with no special accommodations at all.

[DirtyCoconuts]

the ones that thrive outside are the best LOL