Identification by foliage only?

[Ross]

I'm thinking Cattleya (or a hybrid with Cat) because of the length of the pseudobulbs, and by the way, that looks like a flower sheath to the right! Good going.

[fyschebone]

Originally Posted by Ross

I'm thinking Cattleya (or a hybrid with Cat) because of the length of the pseudobulbs, and by the way, that looks like a flower sheath to the right! Good going.

As far as my newbie inspection goes, I think it's a spent stalk that was pruned off by the nursery. If the small remainders of the spent stalks are now brown and dry, how long until it blooms again? What's a typical cycle for something in the Northern Hemisphere? Or is this a classic: depends.

[ScottMcC]

in the first picture posted, there are several pseudobulbs. one indeed has a spent stalk (far left of the photo). however, one has a bright green sheath (far right of the photo, looks like a slightly translucent small leaf). if cared for properly, a new flower stalk will emerge from this sheath. actually, from my experience (which is clearly limited), once you get a sheath, they get less demanding to take it all the way to flowering, it's getting the sheath that is the tricky part.

[Lagoon]

Nice little pick-up there
You could see flowers as early as spring. Some catts can hold on to the sheaths for over a year. Hopefuly it'll be sonner for you.

Make sure your plant isn't getting to cold by the window and maintian good strong lighting. so the sheath doesn't abort.

[fyschebone]

Thank you Ross, Scott & Lagoon. Orchids are so foreign to me that until your explanation I didn't even realize what to look for (I thought the sheath was just another bit of foliage). Fun stuff, and a whole new world of plants to explore.

[fyschebone]

The sheath popped, and hopefully in a few weeks (anybody want to venture a guess on time-until-open?), I'll have a few blooms to help further ID this find.

[Mahon]

Originally Posted by fyschebone

anybody want to venture a guess on time-until-open?

How about April 4th until the first bud cracks open...
(and maybe white flowers?)

-Pat