Sl. Sato
 

This is the first of two leads to bloom for me this winter; it's very early this year. These have a great red color, but the petals are quite reflexed...it is one of my favorite cattleya from my collection, more for the color than anything else.
Enjoy!
Adam

Oh wow - that is beautiful! I agree - gorgeous color! Great job!!!

How small! It looks tiny! Really nice color. Wonder how that would do in my windowsill collection?

Ross: it is very small, though the flowers are relatively large. I'm not sure how it would do on the windowsill, I have noticed that this plant needs quite high light to bloom well, in addition to cooler temps. I have tried to find another of these for quite a while, I got this about 10 years ago, and have not seen another since. It is a cross of Soph. cernua x (Soph. coccinea x Laelia (Soph. now...) pumila)
Adam

I'm feeling confident on the high light/cool temps thing here, but where would we find such a cross again? I haven't found anything in google.

WOW, Adam! That's a real stunner! Gorgeous. And how awesome it's such a small package!

Gorgeous, it's amazing how tiny the plant is compared to the bloom...:clap: :clap:

This was a Japanese cross, and the nursery that I bought it from is long gone. The tag says that it was from a flask from '96 (which is the year the cross was registered), it first bloomed for me in 2005, which is pretty long in orchid years to wait for something to bloom (I know that I have had it since Feb-Mar 2001)...if the track record was the same for other growers it would not surprise me too much if a lot of these ended up in compost heaps around the world. Perhaps if the second growth flowers when it is a bit warmer I will try to self it (then you would just have to wait about 12 years before you'd see flowers on yours :biggrin: )
Adam

Very cute indeed. Guess by the size you would classify as a minature? That I beleive is determined by the size of the plant (6" or less) rather than the size of the flower. You are a patient person and an orchid lover to nurture so long. Great little flower. Love that red!