Strange Bi-Colored Phal. from Westerlay orchids

[bonsaiorchid1]

Hey everyone, been quite a while since my last post... Anyways, i was in smiths a couple days ago and found this little beauty. A yellow orchid with red edges and on the other side, a pinkish red flower... Very odd... so odd it even happened again on the bud next to it. What is going on here? If you would like to see the videos of this plant please check out the two links below. Thank you and please enjoy!!! The last photo, is a normal bloom of this breed.

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[AnonYMouse]

I'm no expert but that might be color break caused by a virus.

The only way to know is to test it

[katrina]

Doesn't look like any color break virus I've ever seen. My guess (and it is just a guess) is the patterning is bred into this cross and you would end up seeing variation w/in each flowering and w/in each flower.

[My Green Pets]

Could it be some kind of chimera? Two types of tissue living in the same plant?

[Paul]

Interesting!

A chimera might be a possibility.

While it does not look like "normal" virus induced colorbreak, virus testing might be a good idea if only for peace of mind.

[No-Pro-mwa]

I hope it's not a virus as I think it's cool looking. i would be hoping it would do as Katrina say's and bloom this way always.

[AnonYMouse]

Originally Posted by CambriaWhat

Could it be some kind of chimera? Two types of tissue living in the same plant?

Chimeras are real? I must know more!

[bonsaiorchid1]

hey guys, thank you so much for responding to my post. What do you guys think will happen if i were to take a keiki off of this thing. Do you think it will keep flowering this way if i take a keiki off the spike with this strange occurrence?

[katrina]

Given the variety of what I can see on the spike...I would guess it will do this again. Maybe not an exact match to this particular patterning...but I would think you'll see the "splash" on future blooms. It'll probably be a surprise...kind of like w/my Phal speciosa C1...I never know what to expect when it blooms.

I'm not much of fan for these "splash" types but I like this one. Must be the combo of the colors or something...I don't know...but it I think it's very pretty.

[RosieC]

Some orchids have pattening that can vary with each flower. Harlequins with their spots are one example, speciosa C1 with it's red colouring is another. My thought is that this could be something similar.

I think it's very pretty!