Back-eye-Cattaleya

[chrisa]

Ok, the more I read, the more questions I have. This one regards a cattaleya's back-eye...What in the world is that? I gather that a Catt can grow in two directions, but exactly where is the back-eye? And why is it important?

A picture would be helpful and appreciated (I am a visual person).

[Lizgeo]

I heard of black eyed susan cattleya, which means the flower has dark throat.

If you google on Laelia aurea, you will see what that means. Crosses with that parentage often carry the dark throat trade.

[cakedaddy]

Back eye refers to dormant growing points. They should be relatively easy to see on a cattleya if the dried material around the base of a pseudobulb is peeled off. They look like little inverted v-shaped flaps. An older pseudobulb will activate a back eye if it is severed from the main active part of the plant. There is a great blog about using backbulbs to increase a collection. (google backbulb blog)Posted via Mobile Device

[tucker85]

The 'eye' is the teardrop shaped part at the base of the pseudobulb from which the rhizome will continue to grow and the next pseudobulb will form. There are usually two, one on each side, and they're often underneath the papery outer covering. Any pseudobulb that is behind the lead pseudobulb on the rhizome is considered a back-bulb. Some growers refer to any dormant eye on a back-bulb as a back-eye but I don't know if that's an accepted term. Occasionally a new growth will occur from one of those unused eyes on a back-bulb. I've very rarely seen this happen and only when there was trauma to the leading edge of the rhizome.