Cattleya walkeriana

[JeanLux]

This is the first flowering for this plant, that I got in 1995!!! Jean

the first bloom opening :

 

[goldenrose]

:clap:Beautiful - worth the wait!

 

[NYEric]

R U sure it's walkeriana?

 

[JeanLux]

R U sure it's walkeriana?

I think so; the first pict. shows the typical walkeriana shape, whereas the second photo (bloom opening) shows a catt flower that is not yet walkeriana typical, because not yet completely open !! ?? Jean

 

[NYEric]

Candace and ChrisFL grow catts, contact them to find out for sure. after 13 years it would be good to know for sure. You can search walkeriana threads for other photos.

 

[Ron-NY]

Walkeriana is distinctive in that it will develop a growth and then will grow a modified flowering growth from the base of the new growth.

EDIT: on looking at some walker pics on a google search...Jean, yours could possibly be a walker

Here is a typical walker

 

[NYEric]

Yeah sure, that's just the typical walkeriana alba. Very easy to grow too! oke:

 

[JeanLux]

Refering to my other Cattleya walker thread : http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6981&highlight=walkeriana
there are my 3 other walkers, 2 alba with larger petals , and another 'normal' form (catt with cat) with similar petals to this one ??!! Both good or false?? They do come from different nurseries! Jean

 

[Berrak]

Jean - wathever it is its beutiful,
but most of all I am soo impressed of your patience.
I wonder if I could wait so long even though I have a pretty good patience

 

[NYEric]

One word: sanderianum!

 

[SlipperFan]

It's beautiful, but I don't think it's walkeriana. Maybe a hybrid.

 

[PaphMadMan]

I think we are all so accustomed to seeing highly selected forms of Cattleya walkeriana that a truly typical representative of the species looks strange to some. Even knowing if the plant bloomed from a normal mature growth or from a reduced growth directly from the rhizome isn't 100% yes or no for walkeriana.

 

[cnycharles]

i've seen some south/central american orchid vendors that had nearly (maybe not quite as many) as many different varieties and colors of walkeriana as some people have of neofinetia. I guess with that many different varieties there are bound to be some non-traditional looking flowers

 

[Ron-NY]

I have noted that even the p-bulb shape varies greatly in this species. I truly wonder if things that are being sold as different color forms of walkeriana does not have some other species blood in their backgrounds...I am suspicious of some of the color forms of Neof. as well.

 

[PaphMadMan]

I have noted that even the p-bulb shape varies greatly in this species. I truly wonder if things that are being sold as different color forms of walkeriana does not have some other species blood in their backgrounds...I am suspicious of some of the color forms of Neof. as well.

I think we all tend to underestimate the natural variability of most species. Usually what we see is from 1 or 2 wild populations, already selected for what was accessible and looked good at the time and what managed to survive in cultivation. Add even 1 generation of selective breeding and what we think of as typical is a very narrow and skewed representation of the species, and something like Neo. falcata has had hundreds of years of artificial selection for unusual forms. Remember also that 'species' is an artificial concept we try to impose on the natural world. There are no such clear cut lines in nature.

 

[ChrisFL]

R U sure it's walkeriana?

Yes, that is a walkeriana. It is much more typical of the form you would see in natural habitat photos.

 

[ChrisFL]

Here is a typical walker

That's barely recognizable as a walkeriana.

Scroll half way down for good examples.
http://www.gnomosorchids.com/indexnobewalk.htm

 

[NYEric]

I like them all; just can't grow 'em... :sob:

 

[ChrisFL]

Eric, how come?

 

[cnycharles]

too much w - a - t - e - r
eric, try it mounted, then you can water it every day. same thing with the psychopsis, mounted on cork with lots of air movement and you'll likely need to water it all the time
where there's a will, there's a way!