Petal shape question

[CattleyaObsessed]

I have noticed on Cattleyas that there are some with 6 petals with every other one being narrow and than other Cattleyas where the petals are all larger and even shaped.

Is this a species thing? Can this be bred for? I have Lc. South Esk 'Catherine' and was wondering if, with breeding, it would be possible to breed offspring that had the every other narrow petals, since it really a look I like.

Thank you in advance!

[Catt Mandu]

Can you give some example pictures? I think the narrower "petals" are actually sepals. In some Cattleyas, plants with wider sepals have been selected for in breeding, or there is some peloric influence in the genetics of the plant.
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[CattleyaObsessed]

Sure!

[Catt Mandu]

Yeah, there is a little peloria going on there (don't worry, not a disease). The wide parts are the lip and petals. The narrower parts are sepals.
The petals are sort of imitating the lip, increasing the apparent symmetry of the flower (that symmetry increase is peloria).
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[CattleyaObsessed]

I am a serious newbie here...Peloria? (and the above flower is not mine, but screen-shotted. The owner has the image watermarked)

[raybark]

Peloria, or pelorism is defined finding symmetry where none is expected, and it is primarily applied to orchid flowers. it can be expressed as the lip looking like the petals, or in the example shown, the petals mimicking the lip, as Catt described.

Also... (a recommendation, not chastisement) You really should not use someone else's image as you did. If they watermarked it, it means they are serious about retaining the copyright, and as you did a screen capture, it says you went to measures to defeat that, so are, in essence, stealing it. If you're going to use someone's image, it's often best to simply link to it and provide the appropriate credit.

[CattleyaObsessed]

Ray-

I am sorry for the confusion. I am new to this forum and all forums have unique rules that can take awhile to adjust too and remember. I foolishly did not seek these out and posted that screenshot thinking I could post the link where I took it from. I did post the link when I submitted the post to moderation (as I am new) and the moderator removed that link as it is against the rules to post any sort of link to other orchid sites, as it states in the rules.

I became curious as to why this had occurred and more so once you pointed it out and after I saw the post for the flasking labs closed. I should have gone to read the rules before, but didn't. I promise I did not intend to post a screenshot without the link and had I known before hand that the link would not be allowed, I would not have used that photo. Lesson learned now, though, and I hope to avoid mistakes like that in the future!