Hybrid seedling plant in a 50mm tube.
We know from our years of experience that this type of cross will bring out spots in the progeny. Leoloddiglossa 'SVO Speckled Blue’ has excellent shape and coerulea colour, and it carries 20 or more well-presented flowers, the FCC is indicative of its high quality. There are three Cattleya species represented in Leoloddiglossa: leopoldii, loddigesii, and amethystoglossa. Lc. Elegans (C. tigrina x L. purpurata) has large, impressive flowers over 6” across. Although only a few small spots are visible on ‘Deep Blue’ you know there are recessive spotted flower genes from the tigrina is in the background. Here we are looking for large flowers at least 5” across in coerulea with darker blue spots and slate blue lips. The robust plants will stand around 16” tall and carry 6-9 blooms per inflorescence. These will be very impressive when mature!
Imported Seedling from Sunset Valley Orchids, USA. Picture shows the parent of this cross. The above description was written by Fred Clarke and details the expectation of this hybrid.
For information on growing Cattleyas check out our growing page at http://barritaorchids.com/pages/growers-resource-page