Phrag. dalessandroi #1

[Mahon]

Posting a picture of my wierd Phrag. dalessandroi. This one has some serious yellow and orange coloration to it, borne upon a VERY tall, branching spike.

This species was originally found by Dennis D'alessandro in Zamora, Ecuador. Later, the local botanical garden clean sweeped the original locality of the species. Many sites were later discovered, making the distribution a larger area. This one is also known as Phrag. besseae var. dalessandroi, but more correctly known as Phrag. dalessandroi.



-Pat

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Wow, very different from your other post of the same species. Is the flower always so different? Could it be the stress of such a long flower spike?

Cheers,
BD

[wilson]

OH ! it's very nice plant.

[KC C]

Lovely colors.

[desertgal]

Very, very pretty. I love the colors!

Katie

[Mahon]

Wow, very different from your other post of the same species. Is the flower always so different? Could it be the stress of such a long flower spike?

Cheers,
BD

The flower remains this color, natural variation, not stress related... I also had it verified by Dodson two days ago as being a true Phrag. dalessandroi... unfortunately, he thinks this is a very ugly form...

[smartie2000]

I don't think the colour is ugly, its peachy, a nice variant from the red ones

Please tell me more about Phrag. dalessandroi. I'm interested. I heard they have branching spikes, but thats about all I know. They aren't offered in any catalogues here in Canada right now, but I'll have one eventually

[Mahon]

I don't think the colour is ugly, its peachy, a nice variant from the red ones

I agree Sometimes, the oddities are highly prized, rather than a great formed flower of the same species.

Please tell me more about Phrag. dalessandroi. I'm interested. I heard they have branching spikes, but thats about all I know. They aren't offered in any catalogues here in Canada right now, but I'll have one eventually

Dennis D'alessandro originally discovered this Phrag. besseae variant in Zamora, Ecuador in 1985. He told his bus driver the location of the new variant, and soon after, the Zamora population was wiped clean by a local botanical garden. Donald Wimber performed a cytogenetical analysis on the Zamora Phrag. besseae variant, to find that it had 2 more chromosomes than typical Phrag. besseae. The distribution of Phrag. dalessandroi is generally in the "middle" of the Phrag. besseae localities.

As for morphological features, the plants of Phrag. dalessandroi have very short rhizomes, as opposed to the rambling rhizomes of Phrag. besseae. The spikes on Phrag. dalessandroi are capable of branching. The petals of Phrag. dalessandroi are described as "dog-eared", or drooping downwards. The sepals are more linear than Phrag. besseae, and easily demonstrated on buds. Typically, plants of Phrag. dalessandroi have more yellow in the flower, usually producing orange in the flowers. According to Dodson, the staminodial shield and labellum (pouch) are not key identification features for Phrag. dalessandroi, as they vary from plant to plant, population to population.

A combination of cytogenetic analysis, distribution, and morphological characteristics were enough to place the plant into the specific rank.

-Pat

[Piper]

Thanks, Pat!

It's a new species to me. Great info!

McJulie

[Todd_Boland]

I think it would have great breeding potential for peach to yellow hybrids.