Cattleya Genetic Confusion
 

Hello...I was wondering if any of the cattleya breeders or hobbists of cattleya that just "know" stuff might be able to help me establish what influences of two orchids- B. digbyana and/or C. bicolor might have on 3 nearly identical orchid crosses. First let me list the crosses.
1.) Blc. Village Chief North " Green Genius"

( C. Village Chief Cuba x Blc. Mem. Helen Brown)

( Lc. Edgard Van Belle x C. intermedia)=C. Village
Chief Cuba
2.) Blc. Yen Corona "Green Genie"

( Blc. Brazilian Treasure x Blc. Mem Helen Brown )

(Batalinii x Edgard Van Belle)=Blc. Brazilian Treas.

( C. bicolor x C. intermedia)= Batalinii

3.) Rsc.(Blc.) EXO Robin's Magic
( C. Village Chief Cuba x Blc. Magic Meadow)

Blc. magic meadow = (Blc. Mem Helen Brown x B. digbyana)

The questions are...Numbers 1 and 2 virtually indentical except No. 2 has 1/8 th C. bicolor in it...No 1 does not. What is C. bicolor influence on the cross..with or without.
Also related...Numbers 1 and 3 are again virtually identical except for the addition of 1/8 of B. digbyana into the cross..How could B. digybana have and influence on the cross. Here is a link to a related thread

,([Lc. Edgar Van Belle x C. Intermedia ] x Blc. Magic Meadow) - The Orchid Source - Orchid Forum

I have loved this orchid since I saw it at the 19th WOC..but I didnt buy it at the time. Now later, I have recently tried to acquire it only to have found it in 3 different versions of the same thing. I guess the real question I'm asking is...."Which one should I get?, which one is the "better one"? Thanks for any help you have to offer.
Glenn

Howdy
My first thought is to buy which ever one catches your eye the most!

Regarding the crosses. You are only seeing one of probably hundreds which came from each pod. There were many actual siblings from the same pod which exhibited differently, and were for whatever reason not chosen for mericloning. No two are alike, altho similar, i'm sure.

I hope I helped to explain that those chosen happen to appear similar, they have similar backgrounds, but not all their siblings looked alike when they were grown out. The choosers had similar tastes I guess.

Take care, and happy growing
may all your orchids bloom like crazy!

Rex
aka POLKA

I like Polkas advice.

My twocents: Looking at any hybrid as 1/8 this species, or certain % that species is an oversimplification. In fact, it doesn't work like that at all. Each hybrid can only inherit from it's parents, and genes aren't always passed down equally. When you factor in dominance, it just gets more difficult to predict. In complex hybrids, influence of a parent species a few generations away can be completely gone.

Wherever Cattleya bicolor, Cattleya amethystoglossa, Cattleya tigrina or Cattleya guttata was recently used in hybrids you will get more flowers (from 5 flowers on to maybe 8 or 10) on mature plants.