Octopussy: Encyclea cochleata or hybrid?

[Rowangreen]

My local garden centre has some nice big plants labelled 'Encyclea Octopussy'. I'm basically wonderning if these are straight cochleata's or a hybrid?

The plants show some variation in flowers, so I think they are probably seed grown rather than cloned, so probably not a mericloned clone of cochleata called 'Octopussy'. One of the plants has flowers with a very slight pepper spotting at the 'tops' of the petals and sepals near the lip, which made me think there might be a bit of something else in them. Anyone know if cochleata ever has slight spotting?

It's so frustrating! The garden centre has a supplier that gives them fabulous well-grown plants, with incomplete labelling. Eg recently some "Masdevalias" (that's all the label they had...) and at Christmas I bought a "Brassia Toscanna" which I was very luckily able to pin down as a Brassidium Spider Stars 'Toscanna'. So the "Octopussy" could be just a trading name or a clone name (though I don't think they are clones...). Looking on the web it looks like some sellers may be using 'Octopussy' as a trading name for cochleata, but still not clear if these are pure cochleatas.

Anyone know any more?

[silken]

I checked the most recent version of OrchidWiz and can't find a hybrid named Octopussy. There are quite a few images for cochleata and several did have a few spots right where the petals/sepals join the column or whatever its called. The spots were maroon or reddish.

It annoys the heck out of me that there are so many un-named plants out there in box stores. It likely results in some unknown entities in breeding in the end because some people are going to slap a name on their orchids regardless of it actually came named or not. There should be a rule that they have to be registered before going to market! I would love that!

[Rowangreen]

I don't know, it sounds to me like you have it better that side of the pond on the whole! Here it's perfectly normal to get no label whatsoever, besides 'Phaleanopsis' or 'Cambria' . More than that is unusual except with specialist sellers... So it's very frustrating that this is halfway there!

It does sound like these are probably cochleatas. So anyone in London: it's the N1 Garden Centre if you are interested. I'm resisting as I have got one, though it's a long way off flowering. I think the plants were just under £20: probably worth it in quality, shame about the labelling...

I think the garden centre are trying, and they are lovely people there, but I don't think they know about the whole species/grex/clone terminology with orchids... and it's sounds like their suplier isn't bothering, even though they are supplying things that are a little more unusual.

[silken]

In stores like Lowes and Home Depot in the U.S. they often get named bag babies etc. but here in Canada, if its in a box store, it rarely has a name and we never get the variety that are in the same chain of box stores in the U.S. Usually just Phals and more Phals with the odd exception. Same continent but very different rules at times!

[Rowangreen]

Slaps self with wet noodles for making assumpitons... LOL

[Bud]

try looking at: Prosthechea cochleata from IOSPE formerly known as Encyclia cochleata....this is also nicknamed 'octopussy'

also a picture in this site
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