What Is This? I'm Clueless

[sandra]

Dear Orchid Gurus and Fellow Geeks:

What is this that I just purchased? Is it a dendrobium? The flowers look like mini cattleyas? oncidiums? I'm clueless here. All I know is that I really liked it so, I bought it.

[kmarch]

Mmmm, fun choice Sandra. Congratulations, you are the proud owner of a Schomburgkia. Schomburgkias come from Central and South America and are in the Cattleya alliance (i.e. closely related to the Cat.) and has similar culture. They like to be warm though unlike some Cats which can tolerate a bit of cool.

I'll do a bit more digging and see if I can find out exactly what species you have.

An interesting bit of orchid trivia: Some Schomburgkia species get very large and their pseudobulbs become hollow and serve as nests to some species of ants.

[kmarch]

Without detailed info on the flower structure I can only make an educated guess, but that guess is that it is Schom. tibinicinis. I love Schomburgkias. they're gradually becoming more popular probably because of their exotic flowers and some of them are very floriferous.

[mayres]

Very nice - I see why you liked it - I do too!
Never seen one before.
mike

[sandra]

Kevin, I can always count on you. Thanks much! The ant thing is a bit much to think about so, I won't think about it! Thanks for your help.

[sandra]

Originally Posted by mayres

Very nice - I see why you liked it - I do too!
Never seen one before.
mike

I've never seen this one before either Mike. I'm all jazzed here over it!

[pikevi]

Whatever the species is , the flowers look great

Very attractive , sandra.

[fred]

sandra no wonder you are as pleased as punch

with a flower like that simply awesome

i am happy for you.

[flowerchild]

Oh great another one to add to my wish list, I am soon going to have to make room for more orchids, oh well I guess I could always ditch the hubby and use his side of the bed!!!(hahahahahah)

[kmarch]

If you all are starting to put Schomburgkias on your wish lists, be sure to add Schom. thompsonsiana which is a beautiful pure white with a kind of cranberry-red on the lip. It's probably my favorite Schom. species.

About 4 years ago I was on a judging team that awarded a Schomburgkia/Cattleya hybrid so I knew there were a few of them out there. I did some web searching and found a few. Some really nice things out there. Schomburgkia/Cattleya hybrids...who would have thought?

[Aniko]

Sandra, I'm envious a little bit - in Connecticut no way to be bumped by such an unexpected beauties, I can see the same agonizing Phal and Den. every week...

[brookn]

lucky girl

[sandra]

Kevin, here's a Schomburgkia thompsonsiana, the closest I was able to find by your description. I've seen some outstanding ones on the web. Two days ago, I didn't know they existed. Now, they're my new favorite. Hoping I'm lucky enough to find more out there in the real world.

[kmarch]

Sandra,

Yes that looks like thompsoniana. It's a beauty isn't it. A fellow by the name of Withner has written a whole series of books on the Cattleya allianceplants. I have th eone on Laelias. I think he tackled Schomburgkia somewhere in this work. Check Amazon or some place like that, or better yet check out the AOS bookstore. They may have it. I mention these books because they have pictures a bit of descriptive info and I believe some cultural info that might be useful if you're going to grow more of them.

Hey mdomingo, you're form Panama, correct? These superb plants might be native to your area. Do you know of them?

[Glitter]

I LOVE IT! Never seen anything like that before. Where did you get it?

[butt0n]

WOW!! I've never seen anything like that! Awesome find whatever it is! I may even add that one to the list if I can find it here in CA.

[sandra]

Glitter, Button, I'm in South Fla. and have been told that they're all over yet, this is the first time I've seen one also. They're from Central and South American countries and grow with very little supervision. They're high heat/sun growers. Thanks to Kevin identifying this for me, I was able to find loads of info on the web about them. Many web catalogues as well, offer them for sale. I've been on a hunt for more....

Hope you find them where you're living and if not, there's always the web!

[flowerchild]

Fantastic another orchid added to the wish list, soon the Hubby and Kids are gonna hafta go, they take up to much space!!!!!!(just kidding my kids are the best flowers of all and my Hubby isn't so bad!)

[pikevi]

Hubby is right there in the "best flowers", flowerchild!!