bowringiana ??? - Orchid Board

fredr · #1 06-07-2008, 05:29 PM

Hi,
I have an orchid growing on the side of a Sabal Palm in a farly shaded area. It is huge but I don't remember it having bloomed but that does mean it hasn't as I'm not always here. I probably tied it to the tree in 2005.

This plant is huge, strong and healthy looking with several new growth stems almost a foot long. As I'm learning, repotting and tagging all the plants as I find time, I dug out the tag which was buried under some roots. It said: "Amethy Stoplogg". I'm mystified but after spending some time with google found a Cattleya bowringiana Amethyst out there. The pictures of bowringianas look pretty much like my orchid, big and strong.

One site has the following:

C. bowringiana v. Splendens ('Amethyst Cloud' x self)

The "grandaddy" of bowringianas. This is the plant on the splash page of this site - C. bowringiana 'Amethyst Cloud'. Bowringianas will eventually grow to produce literally gigantic plants that bear enormous clusters of up to 20 flowers on each stem. The blooms have a sparkling irridescence with round flat form and deep royal purple in the lip. A plant for the connoisseur. I have grown this plant for Over thirty years. The "pop-up" photo was taken in 1999, with 78 flowers, and the plant is almost twice that size now. Divisions of 'Amethyst Cloud' occasionally available for $250.00 - inquire for availability. Limited number of seedlings ('Amethyst Cloud' x self) 2.5" pots - $15.00

Now I doubt mine is the Amethyst Cloud but what in the world do I do with "stoplogg" ?

Fred

Dorothy · #2 06-07-2008, 05:57 PM

Perhaps it's amethystoglossa ?

Orchids of Brazil. Brazilian orchids
Cattleya amethystoglossa - Google Image Search

fredr · #3 06-07-2008, 06:13 PM

Hmmm,
Dorothy, I read "The plants of Cattleya amethystoglossa can get quite large, up to almost 3' tall, and very robust plants can produce more than 20 flowers that range in size from 3" to almost 5" on an inflorescence. Base color of the flowers is usually a light lavender, and there is a tremendous variation in the amount of spotting on the segments. Color forms are quite rare in nature, and basically very few alba and coerulea forms were ever found."

You may be right once again. How amethystoglossa became amethy stoplogg could be a story to itself.

I guess I'll have to wait for a flower. If it looks like the pictures with the spots on the petals, we may have winner here. For now I'll add Cattleya amethystoglossa to the label and wait.

Thanks for the help.
Fred

Orchidflowerchild · #4 06-22-2008, 06:29 PM

if it is bowringiana, the base of the pseudobulbs will tell. C. bowringiana has a distinct onion-shaped swelling at the base of each pseudobulb and characteristic inflated bracts on new growths.

-Cj