Two orchids, clones of Luna and Hestia, came across the Atlantic from the collection of Wyld Court Orchids to Rod McClellans in the early 1940s. I don’t know what their clonal names are, and they are probably lost to cultivation, but the grex Luna is responsible for some beautiful, almost ethereal green-yellow color. Ratcliffe’s used Luna to make Greenshank, and it’s the Luna parent that’s responsible for the color in the dorsals of some of the finer clones, like ’Coromandel’ S/CSA and ’Chilton’.
McClellans used Hestia and Luna to make a grex called Lunar Orbit, about which I know nothing – no awarded clones, and no notables in old McClellans catalogs. Lunar Orbit was not much of a parent, and produced little of note in its dozen or so crosses, except when crossed with Littledean, an important parent of note; Littledean (probably the clone ‘Robin’ or ‘Tokyo’) is a parent of Halo, Sea Cliff, and most importantly Peter Black.
Lunadean resulted from Littledean x Lunar Orbit, registered by McClellans in 1964. There are a number of clones awarded (2 by the CSA, 1 by the ODC, and 5 by the AOS with one of clone awarded three times), but this one is interesting in that it went to Florida, home of very few complex paphs, to get its award. Lunadean ‘Everglades’ HCC/AOS was awarded, I assume based on the clonal name, to Everglades Orchids in Belle Glade, FL, in 1966. It then came back across the country to California to receive a B/CSA from Cobb’s Orchids in 1969 and another B/CSA for Universal Orchids in 1973. Another clone is in the Universal Orchids catalog in 1982 for $180!! Apparently, they thought pretty highly of it; interestingly enough little was done in terms of breeding it. Lunadean is the parent of only three grexes, none of them particularly important.
I think it has neat color…not a combination very often seen…I guess it might make interesting crosses with spotted flowers, as apparently the dorsal color from Luna is fairly dominant.
McClellans used Hestia and Luna to make a grex called Lunar Orbit, about which I know nothing – no awarded clones, and no notables in old McClellans catalogs. Lunar Orbit was not much of a parent, and produced little of note in its dozen or so crosses, except when crossed with Littledean, an important parent of note; Littledean (probably the clone ‘Robin’ or ‘Tokyo’) is a parent of Halo, Sea Cliff, and most importantly Peter Black.
Lunadean resulted from Littledean x Lunar Orbit, registered by McClellans in 1964. There are a number of clones awarded (2 by the CSA, 1 by the ODC, and 5 by the AOS with one of clone awarded three times), but this one is interesting in that it went to Florida, home of very few complex paphs, to get its award. Lunadean ‘Everglades’ HCC/AOS was awarded, I assume based on the clonal name, to Everglades Orchids in Belle Glade, FL, in 1966. It then came back across the country to California to receive a B/CSA from Cobb’s Orchids in 1969 and another B/CSA for Universal Orchids in 1973. Another clone is in the Universal Orchids catalog in 1982 for $180!! Apparently, they thought pretty highly of it; interestingly enough little was done in terms of breeding it. Lunadean is the parent of only three grexes, none of them particularly important.
I think it has neat color…not a combination very often seen…I guess it might make interesting crosses with spotted flowers, as apparently the dorsal color from Luna is fairly dominant.
They have poor form, terrible substance, brownish color, and thin segments. It's amazing to me that they produced anything of worth, and goes to show that I have alot to learn as a hybridizer.
