Cattleya x blossfeldiana
 

Cool cross between Cattleya rex and luteola. Of interest, a friend on my Facebook post pointed out that Cattleya x blossfeldiana was not properly described, therefore, the name isn't taxonomically valid even though RHS shows it as a valid taxon. I went down a rabbit hole and could only find this link that discusses Cattleya x blossfeldiana (scroll down to Cattleya mooreana).

That link says "Cattleya blossfeldiana Krackow., Orchis 22: 1 (1944) [nom. nud., germanice]." So we have x blossfeldiana with a description publication where Krackow is the author, Orchis is the publication, 22 is the issue, 1 is the page number, and 1944 is the publication year. Of note is that nom. nud. stands for "nomen nudum" which basically means the description publication was inadequate for some reason, therefore, the name x blossfeldiana is not legit.

My friend also pointed out that Cattleya Belle Mariza was registered in 2007 with RHS and is the artificial cross between rex and luteola. Therefore, Cattleya x blossfeldiana doesn't exist and Belle Mariza is the only valid name for this cross. Some cool stuff! I made a YouTube video about my plant here: https://youtu.be/hfUPDGHXPkM

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...9e486c0_4k.jpgCattleya Blossfeldiana by Stephen Van Kampen-Lewis, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...70e9a35_4k.jpgCattleya Blossfeldiana by Stephen Van Kampen-Lewis, on Flickr

the only kind of lip I like is from a flower :)

:rofl::rofl: I like that!

So can you remind us (me) of the naming protocol for natural hybrids?

Is it
Cattleya x belle mariza for a plant in the wild and
Cattleya Belle Mariza for a artificially made hybrid?

The natural hybrid needs a proper naming. Somebody could correct the original publication or they could retypify it.

Lovely. Where did you get it ?

It's a great-looking bloom. You can see so much of the Cattleya rex in it. Is it safe to assume that the C. luteola parent brought the size down a bit?

Wonderful cross! Adding both aliases to the list :)

The natural hybrid would have to change to Belle Mariza unless the 1944 publication was "fixed," as discussed by ES.

Maybe one of these PhD students that keep changing the species names could do it?? :lol::lol:

I got this division from Mick Fornier at HBI

Yes! The luteola parent brought the plant size down quite a bit.

But doesn't a natural hybrid need a non capitalized latin name? So the 'x' is the only thing that indicates that it is a hybrid? Then it gets capitalized if the same cross is made by humans?