Any idea what this beauty is?

[Luckyelfie]

I bought this beauty at Trader Joes last week. I'm guessing she is a hybrid with miltonia in her, maybe brassavola? I realize she will always be a NOID, but it would help to know what she is, so I can keep her alive. I have named her Purple Reign. Hey, even NOID's need names.

[estación seca]

It's an intergeneric hybrid in the Oncidium alliance. It is very beautiful.

Brassavolas are in the Cattleya alliance. They won't hybridize with anything in the Oncidium alliance.

[camille1585]

Most of these intergenerics take the same care, so finding the type of intergeneric isn't really necessary from that perspective.

It looks a bit like a Beallara (Beallara Patricia McCully is the one that came to mind), which is a mix of Brassia, Cochlioda, Miltonia and Odontoglossum. Or maybe an Aliceara, which is Brassia, Miltonia and Oncidium. Hard and near impossible to guess, but it's fun to try! I like the name you gave it!

[WhiteRabbit]

[QUOTE=Luckyelfie;871102
... maybe brassavola? [/QUOTE]

You may be thinking of Brassia, which is Oncidium alliance

[Luckyelfie]

Originally Posted by WhiteRabbit

You may be thinking of Brassia, which is Oncidium alliance

Yes!!! That is what I was thinking.

[JScott]

Like you said, it is impossible to know for sure, but I also think it is a Beallara, and I also suspect Patricia McCully (although the name Beallara is obsolete now since Odontoglossum and Cochlioda are now considered Oncidium, so the Beallaras are now Alicearas, but I still like to use the name Beallara, and a lot of commercial growers still use it as well). General Oncidium care will work well for this plant. I have several Beallaras, and they're quite easy, but they do need lots of water.

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by JScott

Like you said, it is impossible to know for sure, but I also think it is a Beallara, and I also suspect Patricia McCully (although the name Beallara is obsolete now since Odontoglossum and Cochlioda are now considered Oncidium, so the Beallaras are now Alicearas, but I still like to use the name Beallara, and a lot of commercial growers still use it as well). General Oncidium care will work well for this plant. I have several Beallaras, and they're quite easy, but they do need lots of water.

I had no idea that there had been name changes in the Oncidum family! I had a Beallara Patricia McCully (along with another Beallara) long ago, and I'll have trouble calling them anything but Beallara....

[JScott]

Originally Posted by camille1585

I had no idea that there had been name changes in the Oncidum family! I had a Beallara Patricia McCully (along with another Beallara) long ago, and I'll have trouble calling them anything but Beallara....

I feel like people generally have been more resistant to the shakeup in the Oncidium alliance than they have been with others, like the Cattleya alliance. Everybody has pretty much fallen in line with the changes to Cattleya. One of my favorite plants used to be SLC Jewel Box 'Scheherazade', and it is Cattlianthe now, not SLC, and in most places, I now see it referred to as Catlianthe. However, with the Oncidiums, I mostly still see people using the old names, and there are occasionally people who are openly hostile about the changes haha. I think with the Oncidium alliance, the names can give useful cultural information, so people still like to use the old names (If a plant is called Odontioda, you know it needs to be kept cool, but that plant is technically an Oncidium now, but if EVERYTHING is an Oncidium now, the name itself doesn't tell you anything). If the scientists think Odontoglossum and Cochlioda should be Oncidium, then I'm nobody to argue with them, but I like the old names (Vuylstekeara is fun to say) and they're also kind of useful.

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by JScott

I feel like people generally have been more resistant to the shakeup in the Oncidium alliance than they have been with others, like the Cattleya alliance. Everybody has pretty much fallen in line with the changes to Cattleya. One of my favorite plants used to be SLC Jewel Box 'Scheherazade', and it is Cattlianthe now, not SLC, and in most places, I now see it referred to as Catlianthe. However, with the Oncidiums, I mostly still see people using the old names, and there are occasionally people who are openly hostile about the changes haha. I think with the Oncidium alliance, the names can give useful cultural information, so people still like to use the old names (If a plant is called Odontioda, you know it needs to be kept cool, but that plant is technically an Oncidium now, but if EVERYTHING is an Oncidium now, the name itself doesn't tell you anything). If the scientists think Odontoglossum and Cochlioda should be Oncidium, then I'm nobody to argue with them, but I like the old names (Vuylstekeara is fun to say) and they're also kind of useful.

I usually adapt to name changes, but in the case of the Oncidiums, I feel like we lose a lot of information linked to the more specific old names. Other changes I have a hard time with are the Sophronitis renamed Cattleya (I can't call my Soph cernua a Catt...) and Sedirea japonica now called a Phal.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Oncidium intergeneric hybrid. Medium to fine bark with a little Sphagnum added, let it dry a little, but not totally, between watering. Moderate light inensity, similar to Cattleyas.