Help identify this plant, please!!!

[NYCorchidman]

Last week, I brought home this intergeneric orchid. Unfortunately it didn't have a name tag, nor the vendor had a clue what it was.
I did much searching on the internet comparing pictures of possible candidatesTahoma Glacier Sugar Sweet, Winter Wonderland Fair Lady, Pacific Pastel), which made it even worse for me as I was left only with more confusion and frustration. I noticed some of the pictures I was looking at on the internet were incorrectly labled.
For example, almost all of the pictures with the name Winter Wonderland shared some obvious characteristics such as overall narrower petals and less spotting. So I thnk I could rule that one out.

Today, I found a vendor who sold all three of those with name tags, but the problem is that they all looked the same to me! I know there can be variations for individual plants, but then how is one supposed to know which one is which???

I'm posintg some pictures.

If anyone is expert on this one, please let me know what the distinguishing differences are between these three plants. Thanks in advance!

[plantaholic]

I think it could be the Tahoma Glacier....but I could be very wrong. Looks a lot like the one I killed a year or two ago.

[ronaldhanko]

This is a case where without a tag an exact identification is impossible. People ask about plants like this frequently, but there are so many hybrids which vary within the cross and which resemble other crosses that identification is impossible. It could be Tahoma Glacier. It could be any of the others. It could be none of them, given the variation in these crosses. When you buy plants without tags you've got to be satisfied with the beautiful flowers and not worry about the names. Not only that, but to put a name on a plant like this without knowing for sure is irresponsible since others may get divisions of it, it may end up being judged at a show, etc.

[camille1585]

Agreed with Ron. With some of these Onc intergenerics it can be easy to get an ID because many are unique looking, but here you really have no way of knowing. There's nothing stopping you from giving it a Noid name; ie calling NOID Tahoma Glacier for instance. That way you remember that it's not officially IDed, and stilll get the pleasure of naming it.

[NYCorchidman]

Thank you, everyone!
The main reason I want to know what it is, is so I know how to take care of it.
I heard Tahoma Glacier is a cool grower and if that's the case, I will probably have to give it away. I would hate to have plants sit around in my house that never flower, or even worse, end up dying due to my poor care.

Anyway, so if there is so much variation within a certain hybrid plant to a point where identification is such a tough job, what is the point of giving it a certain name I wonder? It would be just an unstable, variable plant without its own distinguishing characteristics which make it what it is.

[silken]

The hybrid name still tells you who its parents were. If it is a specially wonderful speciman, then it can be given a clonal name as well, which does distinguish it from all its other brothers and sisters and only plants taken as cuttings or cloned in some way can carry that part of the name and it's award title if it does get an award. For example I have a plant called Beallara Peggy Ruth Carpenter 'Morning Joy'. There are other Peggy Ruth Carpenters with the same parents that look very different. But 'Morning Joy' looks the same always except for any cultural differences that could affect an individual flower's look. Hope that helps.

I should add, most of the Oncidium intergenerics are very adaptable and tolerant of different conditions, because of their mixed parentage. So your lovely plant may do just fine for you.

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

Anyway, so if there is so much variation within a certain hybrid plant to a point where identification is such a tough job, what is the point of giving it a certain name I wonder? It would be just an unstable, variable plant without its own distinguishing characteristics which make it what it is.

Because a name is given to a cross, not a look. Often all the offspring will be pretty much the same, it just depends on the parents. However if one particular offspring is deemed exceptional or is a bit different, it will get a clonal name, like Silken wrote above.

And I also agree that because all these intergenerics are so heavily bred and so related anyway, they'll take pretty much the same care.

[NYCorchidman]

Great news!

I managed to contact the seller and the seller contacted the grower. My intergeneric orchid's name is Beallara Tahoma Glacier Sugar Sweet.

They said I can grow it along side any other common intergeneric, although I read online that these are cool growing plant. well, that's something I will find out down the road.

I'm happy that I finally found what it is called.

[silken]

That's great to hear. OrchidWiz says it requires quite bright indirect light and can take cool to intermediate temps. which means 58 to 75F for night time temps. So it seems like a good wide range. It's parentage has cool, intermediate, warm and hot growing relatives in it. I keep thinking I would like to get one of these nice white ones. By the way, yours looks just like the Sugar Sweet clones in the OrchidWiz pictures

[NYCorchidman]

Thank you for the good info!
Yes, I like this one a lot. I never really liked intergenerics, but this one, the more I look at it, the more I like it.

I wonder why it is named sugar sweet though. It does have slight floral scent during the day, but it is not sweet. Maybe other Tahoma Glacier clones have a undesirable scent to it? I remember someone once mentioned it smells like pepper?
Well, unless someone finds a smell of pepper attractive. haha