Some sort of Cattelya?

[eeyore]

This is not fully open yet but its the first time it's flowering and I'm too excited to wait!



Would welcome an ID if anyone can help?

[Roy]

Yes, it is a Cattleya. The flower has some damage to it or what would be called minor deformites BUT when & if it fully opens & with more front on photo it may be identifiable. Not guaranteed though.

[Yug]

Yup, it is a 'confused' cattleya.

[chingjervis]

Keep us updated please... the combination of colors are unique

[78Terp]

I love the colors on it too!

[eeyore]

Sadly the there were more defects revealed when the lip fully opened. The column never fully separated from the lip either. Still thrilled that I finally got to see the flower though... Does anyone know why these defects appear and if there is anyway of avoiding them in the future?

[PaphMadMan]

Deformities like this can be caused by environmental conditions at a sensitive stage in development, temperature shock, pesticides, insects, anything that causes stress to the plant - mostly before sheath or buds are even visible. In those cases they rarely appear again, or only irregularly. It often isn't possible to determine why. If this was purchased in the last 6 months, maybe more, it may not even have been under your care at the time. Stable conditions and no stresses from the start of new growth until late in bud development should prevent it.

In some cases it is a genetic tendency or perhaps caused by viruses. Then it will happen all or most of the time, though it may still depend on conditions to some extent. The only way to know is to take it through a couple more growth cycles and see how it goes.

The flower has lovely coloring. I hope we get to see it to better advantage next year.