Is Phal. Bronze Maiden infertile?

[nataliekaye91]

Hi all- I just purchased one of Norman’s Orchids Phal. Bronze Maidens (Norman’s-I know, I know).

( Bronze Maiden is Phal schilleriana x Phal mannii. )

But it was the ONLY vendor I could find one from, there were a few recently listed on Etsy but honestly Norman’s were seed grown and looked better so I went with Norman’s. Anyway the plant is large, mature.. its roots are Okay… I repotted it immediately as it was in broken down small pot of moss.

I was doing some research on this grex and I’ve found no breedings using Bronze Maiden.

Is this cross infertile? Does anyone know? Just out of curiosity since I love the cross so much.. don’t wanna waste my time breeding it though if it’s known to not be fertile. I’m guessing that it could be triploid?

I’ll share some pictures of it. Last picture is a comparison of its glossy silver leaves next to a species Phal amboinensis ‘Wilson’ with regular green leaves!

[tmoney]

great question! i would love to know as well (not that we have one we could breed with tho!). have you had any luck with pollination? (edit...hahah, reread and see you just purchased, so probly not attempts yet.). we hope you try pollinating and report back!

supposedly it isn't impossible, as there has been at least one successful propagation that we know of with phal mini mark, which is supposedly triploid and infertile. of course you are taking the word of the people who have said they did it. its a cross by lucke orchideen here in germany, if you're curious.

we have attempted many crosses with mannii or mannii flava because they seem to make such interesting offspring!

also, perhaps this hybrid also goes by the name of Schillman?

oh...and welcome to the OB!!

[nataliekaye91]

Thanks tmoney for your reply! And for the welcome!

Mine hasn’t bloomed for me yet although it did bloom for Norman’s when they had it. It has two old flower spikes on the stem. It’s a fairly old plant I think, 5-7 years old. So I’m hoping it blooms soon and I will attempt to do a breeding with it.

I looked up all records between Bronze Maiden and Schillman and couldn’t find anything on either one for offspring. Hope I get lucky!

[Ray]

FWIW, there is only one registered hybrid, made with Zada, Bronze Beauty, back in 1972.

[nataliekaye91]

Thanks Ray!

I see it now- must have missed that the first time.