Cattleya alliance - possibly a common one

[Aussie42]

Hi all.

I suspect this is a common one as I have some identical flowers from a couple of plants I got from my grandmother's collection as well as a bunch in another collection I acquired. I have maybe 8 or more pieces of this, most quite large.

Its flowers start off slightly greenish - check out the last picture - and turn more lavender/purple as they age. FYI the third and fourth images are both flowers on the same plant, so there's no chance I got a touch of the sun, and the last one has only just opened whereas number 3 has been open for maybe a week.

Strong perfume, I'd say strongest in the mornings (but I only brought one inside this morning so I don't know if it's going to smell later tonight).

Any suggestions?

Cheers,
Aus.

[isurus79]

No way to know for sure, but I'd say its probably a primary of Catt luteola and something else.

[Roy]

Fair bit of C. forbesii in there as well.

[WhiteRabbit]

I have no idea what the name may be, but WOW! that's fabulous!

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by Roy

Fair bit of C. forbesii in there as well.

Actually, I meant forbesii. It was still early in the morn when I wrote luteola! lol

---------- Post added at 12:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:44 PM ----------

The striations in the lip make me think of Catt. mossiae too. No way to know for sure though.

---------- Post added at 12:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:47 PM ----------

Well, to be honest, I think this one looks a lot like Cattleya Heloise (which is Catt. mossiae x forbesii).

Any thoughts? Primary hybrids are much easier to ID than complex hybrids, so we might be able to label this one.

[Aussie42]

Thank you for your responses. I think you've hit it with Heloise - the images are spot on. I counted and I am lucky enough to have 7 of these in flower at the moment - oh, 8, I forgot the one beside me on the desk. They're starting to smell (it's nearly 6:30 am here) so in another hour or so it's going to be pretty pleasant to work in the shadehouses. I like this description of it:

"Here is a very old time orchid. Do not know how it has survived so long in cultivation as most fall by the wayside as fashions change. What you see is what you get without corsets, packing and so on."

Which explains why my grandmother had it - most of her original collection was from my parents' nursery they closed down in the early 70s. I'm not sure how old the other source was, but there's seven plants currently in flower from that collection (maybe more to come) and I'm assuming they bought one and divided it over the years.

Cheers,
Aus.

[Aussie42]

Oh my. That site that mentioned corsets also mentioned another old-time orchid, Cattleya Portia. I was curious so I checked it out on Google images. Then I got out my camera and went down the back.

Seems pretty close to a plant I have...two spikes, seven buds apiece, only one open so far. The flash didn't really capture the gentle lavender.

And yes, I probably should have started a new thread, it's just that I really liked that corset comment.

Cheers,
Aus.

[isurus79]

I'm less sure about the Catt Portia, though if you were to find out that it was Portia I would not be surprised.

[euplusia]

Hi Aussie. As for the first plant I go with Roy, something with C. forbesii, but I wouldn't exclude the pure species.
The second one might well be C. Portia. Then the base of the stems have to show a little 'ball", that is so typical for C. bowringiana.