Vanda coerulea update

[Bayard]

I spoke with John Salventi at Parkside Orchids and he confirmed that this was indeed V. coerulea. The seedlings were obtained from Oak Hill Gardens, which made the cross. Here are a couple of shots that show how the tesselation has developed since my previous post:

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

NICE!!!!

I love this species. I hope mine blooms like yours soon!

(drool...)

[trdyl]

Lovely!

[mollycart1]

It is interesting to know how the tesselation has developed. Very pretty flowers.

[Roy]

Bayard, I read your comments and I see the color change and tesselations but the flower and spike habit is still at odds to V.coerulea, to me anyway.

[Bayard]

Roy - What I really need is a taxonomist to look at this thing!

[Roy]

I'd be sending some pics to Oakhill Gardens and asking for an ID.

[smweaver]

Bayard, they're fantastic blooms. Parkside has some really nice plants. Did this one come in a pot or a basket? Potting mix or no potting mix? How tall is the plant--and would you post a picture of the entire plant, please?

Roy, why do you think that this is a hybrid instead of V. coerulea? I thought by the twisted petals were a dead giveaway for the species instead of one of its numerous hybrids (which almost always seem to have all of the segments aligned in the same plane). And the skinny petals and sepals--as opposed to the consistently round flowers of either the hybrids or the supposedly "superior form" line-bred species plants--are also what I thought would be consistent with V. coerulea. I'm not a taxonomist and I don't grow this species (although now I'm tempted to, thanks to Bayard's pictures), but I would like to solicit your feedback regarding specific reasons for the hybrid assumption, if you wouldn't mind.

Steve

[Roy]

Steve, I question the spike length and flower shape. Yes, there are V.coerulea flowers very much like this one. It may well be a pure coerulea, its just that these features worry me.