Mislabelled cattleya orchid

I had been anticipating the opening of these blooms ever since I confirmed flower buds were developing inside the sheath several months ago. The tag on this specimen indicated it was Cattleya intermedia var Orlata "Marble" x self but, once the flower began to open something clearly was amiss!
With the consultation of a few of my orchid friends, it was clear that the label had to be wrong since this plant looked nothing like Cattleya intermedia. For one thing, Cattleya intermedia is bifoliate and has thin long pseudobulbs while my plant had fat pseudobulbs and was unifoliate! Furthermore, Cattleya intermedia flowers are on the smaller side but mine measured almost 6" across! It bore a striking resemblance to my Cattleya mossiae x mossiea semi alba which bloomed earlier this year.

So, even though my specimen looks like Cattleya mossiae, it will forever be a NOID. Nonetheless, it is still very pretty and fragrant so worthy of being part of my collection in my eyes!

Mislabeled Cattleya type orchid, poss Cattleya mossiae

Cattleya mossiae x mossiae semi alba

Cattleya intermedia (source: AOS)

Newly registered orchid, Rhyncattleanthe DiCiommo Iris

I'm fortunate to have been able to grow this cattleya hybrid seedling to blooming. The plant was acquired through John Barnes in July of 2017 and produced its first blooms in January of 2019.  It is one of many wonderful cross from DiCiommo Orchids.

This blooming season (2nd) the flowers are a bit different; the lateral sepals are wider, less ruffled and the flares are not as prominent, giving the bloom a more uniformly colored appearance.  The color is best described as vibrant burnt orange and the petal surface is diamond dusted which gives it a shimmering effect when seen in bright light. The lip is solid deep cherry/magenta color and the blooms produce no significant fragrance.

It is possible that the difference in bloom appearance from a year ago can be attributed to growing the plant under artificial light (Jan 2019) vs natural window light ( Dec 2019).

You can view the registry information at the RHS website.

Dec 2019 blooms (grown with natural window light, SW exposure):

Jan 2019 blooms (grown under artificial LED's):