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!
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| Mislabeled Cattleya type orchid, poss Cattleya mossiae |
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| Cattleya mossiae x mossiae semi alba |
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| Cattleya intermedia (source: AOS) |
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