Colmanara Orchid in flower, similar looking to Wildcat 'Bobcat'

[RosieC]

The true identity of my Colmanara orchid is unclear. It was sold under the name Cambria 'Bobcat' which, as Cambria is a generic name for Oncidium intergenerics, and as some places sell with only the cultivar name and missing out the hybrid name, could have meant it was Wildcat 'Bobcat'... except the look while very close is not quite right.

It's close enough that several times I've seen a picture of Wildcat 'Bobcat' or seen it at a show and thought "that is what I've got" then when I compare pictures of mine to the other pictures I realise it isn't.



Both have the same size and same shape dark red flowers, with yellow highlights. Both have a yellow tinting to the back of the flowers (almost like a yellow pigment is overlayed on the red).

However mine has faint yellow striping on the flowers, where Wildcat 'Bobcat' has yellow edging to the top petals and sepals.



Mine is closer looking to Wildcat 'Bobcat' than something like Wildcat 'Ocelot', which makes me think it could be the same hybrid... but at the very least it must have very similar parentage.

The sweep of flowers is quite tall, even this picture only captures half of it.



Anyway... the plant it's self has problems. Three attempts at new growth were eaten off, and now it does not seem inclined to try again. I wonder if there are no more eyes left to grow. I was therefore very pleased when a new spike started in early August... at least I get to enjoy some more flowers even if it never grows further.

It opened over a month ago, and is still in full flower... which gave me the opportunity to get around to taking pictures.