Plant Table Awards, March 2, 2011
In March, forty-two plants from 18 exhibitors were shown.
First Place and Species of the Month: Brassavola martiana
Grower: Ted Kellogg
A seldom seen species, the plant provided a mound of flowers complimented by the many pencil-like leaves. This species is from the northern part of South America and is widely distributed. Carl Withner in The Cattleyas and Their Relatives – Vol V., that was published in 1998, suggested a hybrid be made with this species and Rhyncholaelia digbyana to produce frilly-lipped offspring. That cross has yet to be registered.
Second Place and Members’ Choice: Blc. Zul
Grower: Peggy Fahrenback
A hybrid of Guarianthe skinneri (Cattleya skinneri) and Rhyncattleanthe (Brassolaeliocattleya) Orange Nugget, showed the floriferousness and vigorous plant growth of the parents and was covered with rose-orange flowers with a yellow lip. This hybrid was registered n 1997 as Brassolaeliocattleya Zul, then Thwaitesara Zul, and now Rhyncattleanthe Zul, as the names of the genera in its background were been changed.
Third Place: Lc. Gold Digger ‘ Fuchs Mandarin’
Grower: Carol Wood
This hybrid of Lc. Red Gold and C. Warpaint has produced 16 AOS awards. All but three of the awards were for culture. The hybrid grows quickly to form large plants and blooms at one time in the spring of the year. The clone exhibited does not resemble the awarded clone, and is either a mutation from the cloning process or is a case of an incorrect label. The current accepted name is Cattlianthe Gold Digger.
Speaker’s Choice: Schombolaeliocattleya Memoria Doug Lace ‘Roseminah’ HCC/AOS
Grower: Noreen Chervinski
This hybrid of Smbl. (Lc.) Lancer by Cattleya (Guarianthe) aurantiaca earned an HCC award for this clone exhibited in 1984, the year the cross was registered. The presentation of the three-staked inflorescences was perfect – displaying the plant to its best. It is another plant that has gone through name changes. Registered as show above, it was known as a Guarisophilia for a while and now is a Laeliocatanthe.
A note on new names. Numerous name changes are the result of better understanding of the genetic/evolutionary relationships of the orchids. In many cases names have changed more than once in the past decade. A tag on a plant may reflect an old or a new name. All the names identify the same plant; focusing on what the plant looks like and its appeal to you outranks ‘getting the name right.’