Neostylis Pinky, 'Moonlight' & 'Starry Night'

[Fairorchids]

They finally bloomed at the same time, so I was able to photograph both flowers together.

'Moonlight' has Rhy gigantea as pod parent, while 'Starry Night' has Neofinetia falcata is pod parent. Notice how this impacts on:

1. Plant size
   
2. Flower shape
   
3. Flower count

Yes, I know that according to the taxonomists it is a Vandachostylis today, but what do they know.

[Dollythehun]

Breathtaking, Kim! Thank you for posting.

[jcec1]

Wow that's really interesting to see the difference between pod parents. I think both crosses have their merits, is there a difference in fragrance too?

[Fairorchids]

Originally Posted by jcec1

Wow that's really interesting to see the difference between pod parents. I think both crosses have their merits, is there a difference in fragrance too?

Yes.

There is no fragrance that I can detect from 'Starry Night', which is common for 2nd generation N falcata hybrids.

'Moonlight' has a light fragrance (not nearly as strong as a true Rhy gigantea).

[WhiteRabbit]

Wonderful!

[UserName]

Beautiful!

[NYCorchidman]

I'll have to point out that drawing this general conclusion based on these two plants is highly misleading.
Plus, Moonlight has a older plant than your Starry Night. Not fair.

I don't think I've ever seen examples of "Moonlight". Did you remake the cross (reverse parents), Kim? Have you seen many plants out of this cross and did they all look pretty consistent?

Now, I can say something about the Starry Night as I have seen many. While this clone is a mericlone, there seems to be individual slight difference, but all were smaller plant than your Moonlight, which is very big like Rhynchostylis gigantea.

I can say another thing about flower numbers. Your plant of Starry Night is very young.
I once had a old one with well over 20 flowers per spike and the plant had a multiple spikes at a time.
Also, all the plants of Starry Night had strong fragrance during the day time.

Also, it would be very much likely that some progeny out of neo x rhynchostylis cross came out large. Starry Night just happens to be the most popular mericlone available in the market.

[Orchidgirl83]

They are both lovely. I bought what was supposed to be a Starry Night a couple years ago out of bloom, and when i got it to bloom it turned out to be a Lou Sneary.

[Fairorchids]

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

I'll have to point out that drawing this general conclusion based on these two plants is highly misleading.
Plus, Moonlight has a older plant than your Starry Night. Not fair.

I don't think I've ever seen examples of "Moonlight". Did you remake the cross (reverse parents), Kim? Have you seen many plants out of this cross and did they all look pretty consistent?

Now, I can say something about the Starry Night as I have seen many. While this clone is a mericlone, there seems to be individual slight difference, but all were smaller plant than your Moonlight, which is very big like Rhynchostylis gigantea.

I can say another thing about flower numbers. Your plant of Starry Night is very young.
I once had a old one with well over 20 flowers per spike and the plant had a multiple spikes at a time.
Also, all the plants of Starry Night had strong fragrance during the day time.

Also, it would be very much likely that some progeny out of neo x rhynchostylis cross came out large. Starry Night just happens to be the most popular mericlone available in the market.

I have 6 plants of Pinky:

• 3 x plants of 'Starry Night' (obviously clones). They are all of similar stature (and not nearly as vigorous as the reciprocal cross).

• 3 x plants with Rhy gigantea as pod parent, but each a different color form. Two are mature with basal keiki started, the 3rd is blooming for the second time this year and is approaching the same width as the other two.

The latter 3 are uniformly larger, with more fragrance, and much higher flower counts. Their clonal names are my own, so I can keep track of which plants I am using when I attempt breeding. In the most recent blooming, 'Moonlight' had 39 flowers on the larger spike (again strong influence from Rhy gigantea).

The 'Starry Night' plant in photo is older than the other 3 plants.

Considering what I have seen in other intergeneric Neo hybrids (50+ plants, some 10-12 different hybrids), the small plant stature is clearly dominant when Neo is the pod parent. Likewise, the flower structure in all 3 of the larger Pinkys clearly show the Rhy gigantea dominance.

[jkofferdahl]

Kim, they're delightful! Nice growing.