A mislabeled and mysterious coerulea mess

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I think I am careful with my plant labels and remember that I divided a Cattleya Bob Betts ‘White Lightning’, making a new label for the smaller of the divisions. It took several years for this plant to bloom, but when it did in December 2021, I had a shock.

IMG_2015.jpeg

Not a Bob Betts, but a large coerulea flower with a malformed labellum! I had no idea what plant I might have mislabeled. I decided to grow it for one more year and it bloomed about 10 days ago: same flower.

I don’t mind throwing a genetic mistake away, but I sure wish I could remember what the cross might have been. I buy few complex Cattleyas and this isn’t a species, so I am thinking it might have been a primary hybrid. I don’t think it is solvable and I am tired of thinking about it and looking at the poor thing.

Good-bye mystery, into the bin with you.
 
All of us have had this situation at one time or another. I've had my problems with Phrag crosses and throwing
away is hard for me. I keep hoping...you know the drill. My only consolation is adding to the compost and
perhaps adding essential soil ingredients in my landscape.
 
Into the bin. Orchids Limited is currently selling coerulea mossiaes, Susanne Hye’s and C. princess’s…if I recall you’ve bloomed out a number of their seedlings. My money would be on C. princess, I see a lot of trianaei in this flower. We’ll never know, but it’s a fun game!
 
Into the bin. Orchids Limited is currently selling coerulea mossiaes, Susanne Hye’s and C. princess’s…if I recall you’ve bloomed out a number of their seedlings. My money would be on C. princess, I see a lot of trianaei in this flower. We’ll never know, but it’s a fun game!
You know their catalog well! I actually have all of those, with original labels, so it can't be one of those. It would have been something that I bought at least 5 years ago, which makes it very dim in my mind.
 

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