Strange Spike?
 

Blc. Copper Queen (Toshie Akoi X Bl. Richard Mueller) A Lowes rescue bag baby is giving me her first flower this year, but has an odd spike. She is a Cattleya alliance orchid and is giving me an oncidium like spike with no sheath like the other Blc.s I have.

Do you think this is a Brassovola thing? Do Brassovolas have sheaths? I do not have any Brassovolas or anything.

Copper Queen is a very healthy plant, so I am not worried about health. I have never seen a sheathless Cattleya. Is that a common thing?

Here's a picture. I cannot see any sheath. The two buds on one stem just come from the bifurcation of the leaf.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...psf1620762.jpg

Many Cattleyas don't produce sheaths but only buds. I had a Catatleya bloom this summer without sheaths and the one in bloom now had a sheath for months before any buds began to form. My Soph cernua goes straight to buds and I just checked my Brassavola nodosa and cannot see evidence of sheaths, just the buds. My Brassavola Little Stars always has sheaths. So, I think it is perfectly normal and not strange at all for you to see buds without a sheath. :)

Nothing strange here to me. lol

As stated, some get sheaths, some don't. Some hybrids may get sheaths some of the time, and other times spike with no sheath.