Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Did my cattlianthe jewel box 'scheherazade' bloom peloric?

A possibly peloric Cattlianthe Jewel Box 'Scheherazade' bloom

     My boyfriend sent me today a set of photos from the last week.  My tolumnia genting orange is in full bloom (post forthcoming) and the first flower on my ctt jewel box has finally opened.  The timestamp on the photo above dates to May 31.  As I had suspected before leaving (when the flower was only partially open) this bloom is rather messed up.  
     I think the flower is peloric, which refers to blooms that have extra petals in the color and/or shape of the lip.  In this case, the bottom two petals on the flower seem to have the orange markings typically limited to the lip of the ctt Jewel Box, while the wide petal on top (left picture) is a solid red color.

Partially open cattlianthe jewel box flower

   I don't know why the first flower turned out as twisted as it did, but the second bloom seems to be developing a lot more symmetrically, as seen in the picture above.

     Cattleyas are not known for long-lasting blooms, but hopefully the first flower will still be open when I get home in a week, so I can see it to judge with my own eyes.



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