What five cattleya alliance orchids should all serious collectors have

[chrisa]

I would like to know what five (5) Cattleya alliance orchids all "serious collectors" should have in their collection. My definition of a "serious collector" is a person who has move past the "it's pretty" stage and is now has a discriminating eye of what cattleya orchids they might put in their greenhouse. My hope is to get a least 30 replies so I can compile an official survey list. I will also post this question on a different forum, and when I have a good compilation will repost the results of this survey

Survey: What five cattleya alliance orchids should all serious collectors have?


Here is my list to start the survey. Please give my your five recommendations.

Cattleya Bow Bells
Blc. George King 'Southern Cross'
Blc. Bryce Canyon 'Splendiferous'
Cattleya Dowiana var aurea
Lc. Lorraine Shirai 'Raye'
Blc. Oconee 'Mendenhall'

[Ron-NY]

difficult question. You have one species in your list. My list could be all species But I am going to do a hybrid list



Bc Mount Hood
Blc Crispin Rosales
C Bactia 'Grape Wax'
Bl Morning Glory
Lc Bonanza

Wow...difficult to limit to 5 hahaha

[catttan]

Only 5?

Blc Haadyai Delight 'Bangprom'
Lc Blue Boy
Lc Longriver Compton 'Gold Star'
Hknsa Koolau Sinset ' Hawaii'
Blc Chunyeh

[tucker85]

I agree with a couple of the choices already mentioned. I could name five standard cattleyas, five compact cattleyas and five mini-cattleyas but I'll stick with standards for this thread. If you only have 5, you should have a classic white, a semi-alba, a light lavender with a dark lip, a dark lavender and a red.

C. Jose Marti 'Mother's Favorite' - White
Lc. Longriver Compton 'Gold Star' - Semi-alba
Blc Crispin Rosales - Dark lavender
Rsc. Hey Song 'Tian Mu' - Red
C. Drumbeat - Light lavender with dark lip

[pavel]

For that matter, with all the name changes that keep flying out -- might have to wait before attempting to name names.

[chrisa]

Thanks everyone who has participated!

[coeruleo]

i'll wander into this discussion, but please be advised i am not really into the catleyas.

laelia tenebrosa - for the color and grandeur of it all
brassavola nodosa - night scented!!!
encyclia cordigera - day scented!!!
lc trick or treat - little, orange and easy to find

and one of those new smaller growing epi hybrids - they are just so different than the other cats.

honorable mentions:

epi porpax
epi nocturnum

[mauraec]

I've only managed a few species catts in my orchid-growing career, but I think a serious collector needs to know the species - at least the main players. That said, laelias and sophronitis are now cattleyas, so the list of species has changed, even. A great resource for all of this is Arthur Chadwick's book on the big cats - can't remember the title right now, but it's at home in my library and I use it constantly. I'm thinking, C. labiata, C. dowiana, C. luedemanniana, C (Laelia) purpurata, and my very favorite, C. harrisoniania.

[PaphMadMan]

I'll take an extreme view of a 'serious' collection. These are the 5 Cattleya alliance plants selected to make it on the last shuttle to the Mars colony as an extinction level event asteroid is about to impact Earth. The breeding stock that all future Cattleya types will come from. All primary hybrids because just 5 species would be too limiting and complex hybrids would completely lose the distinct simplicity of species.

Lc. Daisy (C. mossiae x L. anceps)
Bc. Richard Mueller (B. nodosa x C. milleri)
C. Batemanniana (C. coccinea x C. intermedia)
Rlc. Cynthia (Rl. digbyana x C. walkeriana)
Grt. Rosy Jewel (Gur. bowringiana x Bro. sanguinea)

[Halloamey]

Very difficult question !
1) Cattleya Amphion
2) Rlc. George King 'Serendipity'
3) Cattlianthe Bactia 'Grapewax'
4) Cattleya warscewiczii 'Firmin Lambeau'
5) Cattleya San Damiano "Halona"