Cattleya warscewiczii (C. gigas) with flowers 12 in. tall ... a myth , or reality ??
 

Hi Cattleya growers :waving

I would love to see a photograph of a flower of C. warscewiczii exhibiting a height of 12 inches , with
a measuring tape held to the flower ...

*Anyone* ??

The eminent nurseryman A.A. Chadwick writes about such plants , and a grower from Colombia also does.

So then ... if such plants really exist , there must be meaningful photographs somewhere , right ... :)

It's probably not unusual to get that size flowers. There was one time a year or so ago, I went to an orchid show and saw a big catt flower there. It was huge for my standards, and not surprised if it was around the 30 cm across.

Because I don't get to see massive flowers before, it definitely allowed me to see what was actually possible among the catts ........ the big catts that is.

I didn't actually think of looking up online any info about what the biggest size catt flower is ----- rough dimensions that is.

But I can say that after seeing the big catt flower that I saw ------ I did actually think about beginning to find names of huge-flower catts hahaha. That big one really got my attention. It was much bigger than my biggest ones hehehe. I just hadn't got around to finding biggest flowers. But my plan sometime in the future is to look for a catt with such huge flower hehe. This is only after seeing what is actually possible with catts.

These days, I'm not surprised about unseen 'gems' that local and international growers may have in their growing area. So many impressive orchids that we wouldn't know that somebody - somewhere - anywhere - perhaps nearby - is growing ----- until they somehow reveal it hehe.

That catt flower I saw might not necessarily been as big as 30 cm ........ and just saying it certainly caught my attention with the size of it. It was big in my books!

Back to the topic ----- about measurements. I do agree that it is surprising that there are not too many images on the internet showing measurements (with rulers) heheh. Interesting. But there are databases - such as AOS ----- where flower widths should be available. A nice thing would be access to that database to search for a cattleya having the largest ever recorded flower width.

For about a week I was not here ... and now visiting again , I had hope that there were perhaps 3 to 5 new threads
showing *12in Cattleya flowers* with a measuring tape held to them , but ... NOTHING , NADA.

And so I hang my head and come back to my small 8-in C. warscewicziis , C. lüddemannianas , C. hardyanas , thinking that *12in Cattleya flowers* are just a myth fuelled by hearsay among Cattleya aficionados ...

And as much as I appreciate and respect Mr. South Park's observations and thoughts and suggestions (thank you !!) ... no photo / no measuring tape = no valid proof (wry smile) ...

No, the Chadwick's are a very high quality nursery. If they say it's true, I believe them. Yours is a question for one of the Cattleya facebook groups.

Maybe you should just write to Chadwick's and ask for pictures with a ruler alongside? The may just humor the request!

I had time on my hands ...... and used a bit of time to search for images on the internet of catt orchid flowers with a ruler next to it. Surprising to find just 1! One pic with catt orchid flower with ruler. A case of rarer than generic hens teeth.

It's possible that biggest size of flower isn't a main focus for catt growers in general. But there certainly will be some growers wanting to grow biggest flowers for enjoyment and records.

A big complaint of botanist friends is that people send them photos of plants with nothing to measure. They beg people always to take one more photo with a ruler next to the plant or flower.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't they take this sort of measurements when a plant is awarded? If you can't find photos, perhaps it is possible to find information about the flower size of awarded plants, and maybe there are a few giants among them!

Camille - they do indeed include span measurements with awards. If AOS has a computer database of awards, and if we were able to tap into it, then we should be able to find the biggest recorded span from say the awarded catt type orchids area ------- which isn't focusing on breaking of records for size, but will be good information to work with.

I'd be happy with 8 inch flowers so then ... if such plants really exist , there must be meaningful photographs somewhere , right ...
Considering Southpark only found one picture in his search..
Lets see some pictures, no measuring tape = no valid proof.