Dendrobium ?what? - ID please

[camille1585]

The show website doesn't have a list of the vendors that were present? then you can sift through their catalogues online.

[Discus]

No, this was an exhibited plant - almost certainly from a member. Also, the only vendor that is in the area (Caro Lin) doesn't have a website.

[camille1585]

[Discus]

Excellent. My email to the secretary paid off - indeed, the plant is owned by the secretary, so that made it easy!

This is Dendrobium Kathryn Banks 'Mottled' x Den. kingianum ('Boundary King' x 'Sparkles'). Mystery solved!

Orchidwiz says that Kathryn Banks is Ellen crossed back with kingianum again. This further back-crossing with kingianum is apparently Den. Kathking. Unless using different orders of pod and pollen parents changes the grex name?

[camille1585]

That's great!! Maybe the secretary could be convinced to give you a keiki or two?

I have a hard time following the lineage you wrote, ie I can't figure out what cross you are referring to as Den. Kathking. As to your question, normally a cross retains the same name, no matter what direction it was made in. I know there are some exceptions (mistakes?) though. One potential reason that there might be 2 grex is that the pod parent usually has a more influence on the offspring than the pollen parent. So making a cross in the other direction could give you different plants. But I still don't see why that should change the name.

[Discus]

Sorry Camille - Hope this is clearer:

Den Kathking is
Den. kingianum x Den. Kathryn Banks

Den Kathryn Banks is
Den Ellen x Den kingianum

and of course,
Den Ellen is
Den kingianum x Den tetragonum

In the plant above, we're looking at a cross of Kathryn Banks back with a kingianum (itself a cross of two named kingianum cultivars, 'Boundary King' and 'Sparkles'), logically making it a Kathking.

[camille1585]

Interesting breeding, basically the plant you were looking for is mostly kingianum, with some tetragonum thrown in. Usually backcrossing is done to incorporate only one/several very specific traits from plant B into plant A, so I wonder what they were after in this case.

[Discus]

Sadly, I couldn't find most of the cultivars in this cross (aside from 'Sparkles'), so I'm not sure what they were after. :/

I've summarised this all in a blog post here Orchids on a Balcony: Mystery Dendrobium identified!

[camille1585]

Nice blog, and you tell the story nicely!

[harleymc]

Hi Discus. the sad news is that 'Sparkling' is frequently used in clonal names of Aussie Dend hybrids.
I agree that kingianum and tetragonum are the major influences in this grex, however there also appears to be something that can increase flower numbers.
I'm speculating that there is a small percentage of falcorostrum in the mix, judging from the flower count, the tip of the lip and the slight pink/purple shading around the throat.
Den. 'Bright Spark' could be a possibility- but that'd be a long shot given how many potential hybrids are out there.

After purchasing some hybrids recently I discovered to my delight that not only did the pots have tags but also that the previous grower had buried punched metal tape names in the mix. I'll be investing in a heavy duty Dymo tape labeller for next spring's repotting season. Hopefully no more NOIDS for me.