Mo Painted Desert x Ctsm Melana Davison Fox
 

I am new to these type of orchids and when I saw this at the orchid show (Sunset Valley Orchids) my mind was blown. The example they had was stunning and I dropped down the money. It was only after I got home I began to realize I may not have bought what I thought.

After much research I'm realizing I basically bough a plant propagated by seed and its a crap shoot as to what I'm going to get. I'm okay with that (hey orchids are an adventure). What I don't really understand is what this orchid is. Is it a Catasetum? I was told to grow it like one. Is it a Fredclarkia? And when does it get it's official name? How does that all work?

It is a Fredclarkeara... which is Mormodia (Mormodes x Clowesia) x Catasetum. As far as "official" - registered name, when or if is up to the breeder (or if it is awarded, the awardee) If it is unbloomed, Fred Clarke may wait to see if it is good enough to name (with all the hybrids he makes, at $25 a pop to register with the Royal Horticultural Society - RHS - in the UK, the international registrar, he doesn't register everything) I have several of his creations that he didn't register, that are quite lovely. I wonder about the name on your tag. Mo. Painted Desert is a major "foundation" parent, and Ctsm. Melana Davison also figures heavily in Fred's breeding program. The "Fox" part catches my attention... a bunch of years ago I got a plant from SVO (or a society plant table that Fred provided), that bloomed out with a flower that I found very attractive... I emailed Fred to ask if it had a name, and he said "not yet, how about "Roberta Fox" ... he registered it with my name! Up to now, it hasn't shown up in any of his hybrids so maybe it wasn't so great (though I still love it... and it is still alive 12 years in my possession) So maybe he found one that was good enough to breed with... if so, I'll be stoked.

Anyhow, if it came from SVO, it's good!

It's a beauty. Roberta, now that would be exiting.

IF I am ever able to get it to bloom I'll post a picture so you can compare to her grandmother.

Thanks! Just follow the SVO instructions Sunset Valley Orchids - Catasetinae Culture - The hardest part is not watering too soon once new growth starts. It is sooooo tempting.

If you go to the Sunset Valley Orchids Web site, and click on the Catasetinae listing, and look for the catalog number of your cross as seen in your photo of the display plant, you can read what Fred Clarke wrote about the cross.

I looked it up... it's not using my "namesake"... the correct name of the second parent is Ctsm. Melana Davison 'Fox Tail'. Oh well. There is huge variation in Ctsm. Melana Davison - all of them beautiful. So this should be a beauty.

Very cool!

I'm a bit surprised that the cross would give such 'black' blooms. I recently bought a SVO cross with Melana Melana Davison as a parent, and nearly bought a Painted Desert cross, and neither of those has such dark flowers, they are more of a dark wine red.

Even on the SVO website Fred writes for this cross "Flower colors will range from deep red to spotted red/burgundy". I know that seed grown plants can show a lot of variation (the photos the OP posted do show that black is possible), but still I wonder.

I would say a lucky break.