Lycaste specialists, advice needed

[Paphluvr]

Are there any species that look like L. aromatica but that bloom on mature growths? I’ve had an aromatica in the past that I seem to recall bloomed on the new growth and was especially fragrant. The one I have now was sold as aromatica but is not very fragrant and blooms on the mature growth. Are there any species other than aromatica and cruenta that look like this?

 

[big923cattleya]

Cruenta, aromatica, and macrobulbon are similar.

 

[big923cattleya]

Aromatica for me blooms when the new growths are about 1/3 of the way up.
Macrobulbon blooms before the new growths start. Macrobulbon typically blooms with a better flower count then aromatica or cruenta.

 

[Paphluvr]

This one blooms for me but not with the flower count I would expect. As an indoor grower I suspect that my winter temperature is not low enough to induce prolific bloom.

 

[big923cattleya]

When you get into the L. skinneri group, these tend to be larger flowers on longer stems. I have seen 3-7 flowers often but they might be 2 to 3 times larger then the three I mentioned previously.

And as with any orchid, the better you grow them the more flowers are produced. Perhaps your culture is off some how? I really don’t know. I am not at all an expert.
Honestly over my career in orchids, I have tried a few but that is as far as it went.

 

[Axel]

I have the same quest...
I was given a Lycaste from Guatemala years ago ; it is (unfortunately) unscented, blooms "green" (I mean when the PB are mature and with leaves still on). I wrote to Dr. Henry Oakeley who tell me, based on a good close-up pic, that it could be L. suaveolens. However L. suaveolens doesn't bloom "green" I think, and the flower is bigger. Mine has got 5-6 cm flowers. Old PB have the characteristic kind of dart.
After a long research I came to the conclusion that it could be Lycaste x michelii, apparently very common in Guatemala. It is a natural hybrid between L. lasioglossa and cochleata.
Well here it is (flowers coming to their end), and I am open to any other idea.

 

[big923cattleya]

For what it is worth, my experience tells me that there is a good chance that this is Lycaste cochleata.
L. aromatica is a synonym for cruenta I think. L. macrobulbon is very closely related to those two. It has much smaller flowers that appear as new growths emerge.
L. michelii is a species or natural hybrid for which there is no botanical description.
Lycaste suaveolens has fewer flowers then aromatica and macrobulbon. Blooms with growths half way up. Has often been called Lycaste aromatica var. majus
Lycaste lassioglossa has bronze sepals. Much more open and starry.

 

[Arne]

Lycaste cruenta and aromatica are two different species. They like cool and dry winters. Summers shouldn't be hot but they don't mind temperatures in the eighties. They are easy growers.

I don't know much about Lycaste macrobulbon but I believe it prefers more intermediate temperatures. Although it looks similar to cruenta and aromatica I do think it belongs to a different section.

 

[Paphluvr]

I have the same quest...
I was given a Lycaste from Guatemala years ago ; it is (unfortunately) unscented, blooms "green" (I mean when the PB are mature and with leaves still on). I wrote to Dr. Henry Oakeley who tell me, based on a good close-up pic, that it could be L. suaveolens. However L. suaveolens doesn't bloom "green" I think, and the flower is bigger. Mine has got 5-6 cm flowers. Old PB have the characteristic kind of dart.
After a long research I came to the conclusion that it could be Lycaste x michelii, apparently very common in Guatemala. It is a natural hybrid between L. lasioglossa and cochleata.
Well here it is (flowers coming to their end), and I am open to any other idea.

Thanks, Axel

The only reference I had available was “The Genus Lycaste” by Fowlie. It’s about 50 years old and most of the plates are black and white. In it suaveolens is regarded as a synonym of aromatica. Even the illustration of it in bloom shows it blooming as the new growth emerges. Mine just finished blooming and I didn’t take photos. I purchased it primarily for the fragrance which, unfortunately, is very lacking