BLC. PRATUM GREEN 'BONSERM' - just wondering

[mauraec]

Hi - These are pictures of my only catt - first ever - and I have a couple of non-urgent questions that my research hasn't helped me with.

First, the closeup of the bloom shows that it's browning a good bit, and has been gradually since I first brought it home from the nursery 2 weeks ago. And the lovely fragrance disappeared about a week ago. Is this normal timing, or am I doing something wrong? It sits in the prime position in front of my sliding glass door - gets bright indirect southern exposure all day, gets watered "weekly-weakly", has a light fan blowing through my orchid area, and I open the sliders at night, so all my orchids get the cooler, much more humid Atlanta night air. Second, I'm wondering whether this is the only bloom it will have any time soon - the spike only comes from one of 5 monopods (is that the right term?), and at least 2 of those look pretty healthy. Is there anything I should do to get it to spike?
Third, what is "BLC" ? I'm guessing yet another cross hybrid of sorts, which makes me wonder which of the parents determines how it should be cared for.

Thanks to all again....

Maura

[catttan]

Looks like normal aging to me plus I think injury while transporting the plant. Your plant is still young and the next pseudobulb might give you another spike.BTW your plant looks very healthy. Blc = Brassolaeliacattelya - a cross of 3 allied genera i.e. Brassovola, Laelia and cattelya.

[mauraec]

All good news, if I can ever figure out how to pronounce "Brassolaeliacattleya"! When growers issue a 3-cross hybrid, is it still referred to in general as a "cattleya" - or are the other two branches sometimes determinative of the final category? I'm having a hard time navigating orchid nomenclature - dendrobium-phalanenopsis; doritaenopsis, for instance, both of which seem to fall into the just plain old "phalaenopsis" group. I've seen some beautiful Laelias, but thought they were cattleyas too, until I had studied up on cattleyas a bit. Why wouldn't one want just a plain old non-crossed Laelia? Do you think the resulting phalaenopsis hybrids, for example, are truly superior to the single strain? Or are we looking at mass marketing techniques here? I feel a bit vulnerable to acquiring orchids for with inexact id's, particularly, of course, because I haven't yet had enough experience to see what's out there beyond the botanical gardens, the boxstores, and small local orchid nurseries.

[Roly0217]

Maura the flowers on the cattleyas last about a month or so. Some a bit more but they are not long lived like the Phalaenopsis for example. Your plant is very young and this appears to be it's first blooming. With new growth you are very likely to get more buds per inflorescence. They only bloom once from the same spike so once the flower falls off you may cut only the spike. The pseudobulb and leaf stay. About the long pronunciation of the Brassolaeliocattleya which is a mouthful most people just refer to it as Blc since most know what it is. Doritaenopsis is actually a cross as well. It's a Phal x Doritis cross. I must say that I myself am more of a species person but the crosses made from cattleyas, brassavolas and related genera are usually made to improve on flower shape, size, color or count otherwise people would get tired of the same plants; that's why there are sooo many hybrids out there. In the meantime just enjoy growing it and you'll see that you'll be rewarded with some beautiful blooms.

[mauraec]

That's pretty much what I thought, except for the possibility of people ever getting tired of the endless variety of orchids. I am VERY MUCH enjoying growing it; I simply have a character trait that tends toward exactness, specificity, and details. I suppose being an estate tax attorney has something to do with my preoccupation with minutiae, but I find research and information fascinating, so it has become part of why I am loving growing orchids.

[PaphMadMan]

Are you referring to this plant as an example when you worry about an 'inexact id'? All of its ancestors are known, to 10 generations back, with 16 different species represented. 'Bonserm' should actually be spelled 'Boonserm', and all the Blc. Pratum Green 'Boonserm' plants out there are clones of one particular plant that was awarded by the American Orchid Society in 2007. You could add HCC/AOS to the name to acknowledge that award. The originator of the cross, the registrant of the cross, and the exhibitor of that original plant that got the award are all known. I don't know how much more exact you could get.

One advantage of complex hybrids like this is that whatever picky quirks of culture the individual species may have tend to get washed out, and for 10 generations the ancestors of this plant have been selected from the ones that were easy to grow, so you end up with a plant that probably grows more easily under a broader range of conditions. Many people prefer to grow species, but among Cattleya types the 'species' grown tend to be from selected parents with several generations of controlled breeding and 'improvement' behind them. They aren't really any closer to nature than the hybrids.

Since the time that this hybrid was registered the one Brassavola species involved has been reclassified as a Rhyncholaelia, and the Laelia species involved have all been reclassified as Cattleya, at least for the purpose of registering hybrids. This is somewhat controversial. Rather than Blc. this plant is now officially recognized as Rlc. (Rhyncholaeliocattleya), though many prefer to stick with the old fashioned Blc.

If you enjoy digging up minutiae orchids are definitely the hobby for you. Welcome to the addiction.

[mauraec]

Are you referring to this plant as an example when you worry about an 'inexact id'? All of its ancestors are known, to 10 generations back, with 16 different species represented. 'Bonserm' should actually be spelled 'Boonserm', and all the Blc. Pratum Green 'Boonserm' plants out there are clones of one particular plant that was awarded by the American Orchid Society in 2007. You could add HCC/AOS to the name to acknowledge that award. The originator of the cross, the registrant of the cross, and the exhibitor of that original plant that got the award are all known. I don't know how much more exact you could get.

One advantage of complex hybrids like this is that whatever picky quirks of culture the individual species may have tend to get washed out, and for 10 generations the ancestors of this plant have been selected from the ones that were easy to grow, so you end up with a plant that probably grows more easily under a broader range of conditions. Many people prefer to grow species, but among Cattleya types the 'species' grown tend to be from selected parents with several generations of controlled breeding and 'improvement' behind them. They aren't really any closer to nature than the hybrids.

Since the time that this hybrid was registered the one Brassavola species involved has been reclassified as a Rhyncholaelia, and the Laelia species involved have all been reclassified as Cattleya, at least for the purpose of registering hybrids. This is somewhat controversial. Rather than Blc. this plant is now officially recognized as Rlc. (Rhyncholaeliocattleya), though many prefer to stick with the old fashioned Blc.

If you enjoy digging up minutiae orchids are definitely the hobby for you. Welcome to the addiction.

Actually, I was probably committing inexactness in my own choice of words; that said, your amplification on my Boonserm "Pratum Green" certainly adds significantly more specificity than I was given when I acquired it. In fact, I am just learning that, not only is it now, controversially, you say, an Rlc, but the actual cross is the catt "Hausermann's Gala" and the Rlc "Hausermann's Jade". Fascinating to me, as genetics and parentage (in people and law, as well as plants) are one of my obsessions.

My frustration with hybrids is related to 2 basic areas: first, as a novice, my sources for plants have been large nurseries, as well as one local orchid nursery, neither of which have been able to supply much information about the plants, if any. Second, also as a novice, I am scrambling to learn enough about species to understand how hybrids are arrived at, and that, I imagine, will occupy a lifetime - but I am patient and determined, so I am running this information to earth as much as I can.

The truly frustrating examples, I suppose, are the NOID mass-grown, cloned, 25th generation, or whatever, hybrids - like my green and burgundy dendrobium, my pink standard cymbidium, and several of the phals that I have. I have learned a few principles since beginning my orchid journey, however, chief among them being that having a plant "with papers", so to speak, while intellectually satisfying, does not necessarily make growing it more fun than a "mutt" - nor does it make it more beautiful. Still.... when you have a stunner like my cymbidium from the orchid exhibit, it seems inadequate only to be able to refer to it as a "pink cymbidium".

With the help of so many senior growers and resources in this forum, I am finding that much of the specifics I crave are in posts and articles here when I truly am on an information mission.

Thank you for your input, and yes, I believe this IS an excellent addiction for a minutiae enthusiast. I am working on developing a taxonomy journal for my collection and I detest blank spaces!

As always,

Maura

[panam]

Plus, it's a lot prettier on your shelf than estate tax documents!

[mauraec]

Plus, it's a lot prettier on your shelf than estate tax documents!

Some of my document binders are pretty nice, but I'd have a very odd sense of aesthetics if I didn't agree with that!

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Glad to see your questions answered, Maura. If you haven't already, be sure to take a look at the Orchid Genus Database here in the forum.

Cheers,
BD