Wrongly labelled orchid

[Rosiefuture]

Hi all, I've been waiting about 5 years for this orchid to bloom and now that it has it's a big surprise to say the least.

You can see by the pic of the label that I bought it with that I was expect a basically white bloomed Cat. Wrong! LOL

Last year was the first time that this orchid attempted to bloom. It grew this amazing 3 foot spike but I brought it into the house to early and the buds blasted before they matured.

This year it put out two spikes so I left it outside until the buds were nearly due to open and then I put it into my bathroom, which is cool and bright.

Last year I must admit that I thought it very weird for a Cat to have that very long spike. Anyway the orchid bloomed yesterday and it's very gorgeous but so obviously not what is on the label.

I think it's a Laelia Anceps, the second pic I've posted is a Laelia Anceps from an internet nursery site. All the others are of my orchid.........identical or what???


Label on plant when I bought it


Laelia Anceps pic from the net.


My plant, moved to the kitchen for better pics

[WhiteRabbit]

hehe - SURPRISE!
does look like Laelia anceps, doesn't it - at the least a hybrid of it with the anceps dominating ...
maybe someone at the nursery mixed up tags ...

[Rosiefuture]

Can anyone tell me a bit about Laelia's, this is the only mature one I have. I bought four small plants a couple of months ago but they won't flower for ages.

They are

• Laelia Anceps - Anceps Veitchiana Blue x Anceps Guerero
• Laelia Anceps - Anceps Veitchiana Blue x Anceps Dawsonii
• Laeliocattleya Interceps Fluoro Flash
• Laeliacattleya Interceps Blutterfly Flash x Laelia Anceps Green Throat

What is the difference between Anceps and Interceps?

Anything I should know I'd be most grateful to hear.

Marion

[calvin_orchidL]

Originally Posted by Rosiefuture

Can anyone tell me a bit about Laelia's, this is the only mature one I have. I bought four small plants a couple of months ago but they won't flower for ages.

They are

• Laelia Anceps - Anceps Veitchiana Blue x Anceps Guerero
• Laelia Anceps - Anceps Veitchiana Blue x Anceps Dawsonii
• Laeliocattleya Interceps Fluoro Flash
• Laeliacattleya Interceps Blutterfly Flash x Laelia Anceps Green Throat

What is the difference between Anceps and Interceps?

Anything I should know I'd be most grateful to hear.

Marion

Laelia anceps (lower case for the 'anceps' part) is a species. All orchid species (and other plant/animal species for that matter) have the genera capitalized, and the species name in lower case (Homo sapiens, Canis lupus, Felis catus etc...). All your L. anceps are are crosses of L. anceps clones (Veitchiana Blue, Green Throat etc...). These are L. anceps plants that have interesting qualities that have warranted some sort of special designation (or maybe the hybridizer just felt like giving them a name). Regardless, they are still the base species.

Laeliocattleya Interceps (notice this is NOT Laelia, but Laeliocattleya) is a man-made hybrid of two species: Laelia anceps and Cattleya intermedia. Notice how Interceps is capitalized, which distinguishes it from a species.

Species = naturally found in the wild
Hybrid = the progeny of two species, often man-made but occasionally found in the wild.

[Rosiefuture]

Thank you so much Calvin

....so anceps is species as in nature and Interceps is man-made hybrid, is that right?

So I'm right in saying my surprise orchid is a Laelia anceps?

I'm going to have to write a new label for it.

Marion

[Royal]

Crossing two white flowered hybrids doesn't guarantee white colored progeny. Genetics are funny like that.

It does appear that the label is wrong, and it does look like a dead ringer for L. anceps. It's pretty nice either way.

[Rosiefuture]

Originally Posted by RoyalOrchids

Crossing two white flowered hybrids doesn't guarantee white colored progeny. Genetics are funny like that.

It does appear that the label is wrong, and it does look like a dead ringer for L. anceps. It's pretty nice either way.

Hi Royal, I found several pics on the net of the white cross and from what I could see it would have been a large white Cat bloom with a little yellow on the lip. When I ended up with 3ft long spikes and decidely pink/mauve looking buds I knew something wasn't right. But I thinks it's just lovely and I'm not disappointed.

Do all Laelia's have such long spikes? Will the other Laelia's and Laeliocattleya's that I have bought have spikes like that?

Marion

[Call_Me_Bob]

Laelia anceps have long spikes, i dont know about other Laelias. is it winter where you are? Laelia anceps is usually winter blooming.

yours looks like Laelia anceps, but you you cant be positive

[marydaniellesantos]

It does look like it's identical, but the lips appear to be different.

[Rosiefuture]

Originally Posted by help

Laelia anceps have long spikes, i dont know about other Laelias. is it winter where you are? Laelia anceps is usually winter blooming.

yours looks like Laelia anceps, but you you cant be positive

Yes, it's winter here, the opposite seasons to the Northern hemisphere.

Marion