Do all Cattleyas have lips?

[Rid]

Mine doesn’t! Or at least not yet. The petals unfurled a few days ago and I keep expecting the center to develop further.

I bought it at a local orchid nursery.

Can anybody tell my anything about this based on the flower?

Thanks

Ridley

[Ray]

Yes, all cattleyas have lips, but sometimes deformities happen. Hopefully it won't happen again.

[neophyte]

considering that one of the lateral sepals also has a deformity/some damage, it has probably just been mishandled in transit to the nursery/at the nursery.

here is an example when extreme heat deformed the an orchid bud and consequently the bloom (though I think in your case it may just be improper handling or insect damage... although why would an insect only eat the lip and part of a sepal?) :
deformed cattleya flower

[Rid]

This orchid is closest to my humidifier, which is just a simple big box store purchase. Could that be the reason for the deformity?

---------- Post added at 10:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:59 PM ----------

Originally Posted by neophyte

considering that one of the lateral sepals also has a deformity/some damage, it has probably just been mishandled in transit to the nursery/at the nursery.

here is an example when extreme heat deformed the an orchid bud and consequently the bloom (though I think in your case it may just be improper handling or insect damage... although why would an insect only eat the lip and part of a sepal?) :
deformed cattleya flower

I don’t think it is insect damage. I’ve had the orchid for about 6 months so i don’t think it’s transport damage either. Over that time period, I’ve removed 2 or three browned sheaths, and the remaining 3 or 4 sheaths show no silhouette of a bud inside. Leaves seem a nice light green and it’s growing roots and leaves.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by Rid

This orchid is closest to my humidifier, which is just a simple big box store purchase. Could that be the reason for the deformity?

Definitely hard to say there Rid. If the deformity is due to plant mutation, then it'll just be DNA related.

In general, cattleya orchids develop the lips obviously. But deformities are known to occur - such as for example in this case : Click Here and Click Here - just found on internet search.

I think that the flower is nice and interesting without the lip. Some individuality is always nice. If all the future flowers have the same trait, then that would be nice to keep, as not everybody can just get a plant with flowers without a lip. It's a statistical thing.

The usual pattern is maybe 1 flower gets it ----- for particular plants ----- while the rest of the flowers might turn out 'normal'.

[neophyte]

whoah - those are some crazy flowers!!

The flower shown by papayj which had been affected by heat was really deformed - nothing turned out right and there were extra flower parts everywhere. It looks like yours developed completely normally except the lip is missing. So unless this is some really weird mutation, I honestly don't think it's a matter of heat. This is so fascinating!

I think some Cattleyas may develop flowers from dry sheaths, although that may be more of a Laelia thing (not sure)? I guess we'll wait until another flower comes along - if that one's lipless too, then you've got a real rarity!

[Roberta]

I think you'll just have to wait for the next blooming, to figure out if this was a one-off mutation or if the plant has genetic issues. Another thought... I had a run of mutations when I used Superthrive, seemed to mostly be Catts. I don't recall missing lips, but there were some fused petals/sepals that didn't separate properly. I stopped using the stuff and haven't seen this problem since. So there could have been some treatment that it got before your acquired it... if so, again a one-off problem. So you'll just have to wait, nurture it, and hope that the next bloom is normal.

[Rid]

Thanks for the replies everyone!