October 2003 Plant Table – Venice Area Orchid Society

Show Table October 2003

Monthly meetings include a show table of members’ plants. Six ribbons are awarded each month: four awards are selected by an alternating team of three VAOS member judges. These awards are: one for Best Species, and a First, Second and Third place award to any plant. The monthly speaker chooses the Speaker’s Choice and the VAOS members vote on the plant for Members’ Choice. The following section describes each of these awards for October 2003. In October there was tie in the voting for Members’ Choice. To view a larger image, click on the photograph.

Blc. Mem Vida Lee ‘Limelight’

First Place Award and Members Choice Award: Blc.Mem. Vida Lee ‘Limelight’

Grower: Don Mitchell

A well grown plant with three inflorescences of two flowers each. Sepals and petals were olive green and the flat lip was marked with deep magenta. The coloring on all flowers was consistent and non-fading.

The parents are Bc Binosa and Lc Brazilian Treasure and the cross was made in 1986.

C. bowringiana

Second Place Award: Cattleya bowringiana

Grower: Monroe Kokin.

This is a line bred form of C. bowringiana hybridized using the clones ‘Dr. Kopecky’ and ‘Splendens.’ Flowers were a uniform deep purple about 8 cm. across. The plant carried 32 flowers on 4 spikes.

The C. bowringiana species, first described in 1885, grows from Mexico to Honduras. Recently Robert L. Dressler and Wesley E. Higgins have proposed Guarianthe as the new generic name for the “Cattleya” skinneri complex including C. aurantiaca, bowringiana, patinii and skinneri.

Den. Emma White

Third Place Award: Den.Emma White

Grower: Ed and Elaine Fox.

Just breaking into bloom was this large plant of Den. EmmaWhite with nine inflorescenses carrying 38 flowers and 70 buds.

There is confusion regarding the name of this hybrid. Den. Emma White is in the trade, but the name was never registered with RHS. There also exists in the trade a Den. Emma Belle ‘White” which looks very much like the plant shown at our meeting. A final bit of confusion exists in that Den. Emma is registered, but it is from very different types of Dendrobium parents.

C. labiata ‘Sherwood Forest’

Species Award and Members Coice Award: C. labiata ‘Sherwood Forest’ AM/AOS

Grower: Diane Arendall

Two inflorescenses with five flowers each. Flowers natural spread was 13.5 cm. C. labiata was first described in 1821as Epidendrum labiata and is representative of the large Cattleya flowers which are often referred to as the ‘labiata type cattleya.’ The ‘Sherwood Forest’ clone was awarded in Florida in 1991 with a total of 84 points.

Cym Nancy’s Treasure ‘Precious’

Speaker’s Commendation: Cym. Nancy’s Treasure ‘Precious’

Grower: Ted and Marty Kellogg

Six flowers on one inflorescense. The plant was one of six purchased from Everglades Orchids in 2001 as a ‘warmer’ growing Cymbidium. It is the first of those plants to bloom; it grows on a lanai with no special care.

Cym. Nancy’s Treasure was registered in 1996 by Everglades Orchids and is a cross of Cym. parishii by Cym. Mizhu Okada.

Judges: Charlie Cullen, Peg Thompson, Sylvia Walker

46 plants from 20 exhibitors were shown.