Oncidopsis Memoria Martin Orenstein 'Lulu'

Oncidopsis Memoria Martin Orenstein 'Lulu'

Oncidopsis orchids are hybrids between Oncidium and Miltoniopsis.  This particular hybrid gracefully displays the balance between these two genera: its flowers have the full roundness typical of Miltoniopsis, yet they also display an intensity of color and pattern that reminds me of Oncidium crosses.

Oncidopsis Memoria Martin Orenstein is a 1992 hybrid between Oncidopsis Aglaon and Miltoniopsis Martin Orenstein. It's actually a slightly unusual crossing, because Oncidopsis Aglaon is a very old hybrid: it was registered in 1926.  Such old hybrids don't frequently maintain popularity long enough to still be available for hybridizing nearly a century after their creation.

Genealogy of Oncidopsis Memoria Martin Orenstein

You can see a full resolution version of this image here: http://imgur.com/EVlv8Om

As is typical with orchid hybrids, the breeding scheme for Oncidopsis Memoria Martin Orenstein is a bit of an overcomplicated mess. There are approximately 50 progenitors in the diagram, including 5 Oncidium species and 3 Miltoniopsis species.  

Miltoniopsis breeding clusters very strongly around Miltoniopsis Bleuana, a primary hybrid of M. vexillaria and M. roezlii. Interestingly, this orchid goes by two different names.  M. Bleuana was the first and oldest Miltoniopsis hybrid; it was registered in 1889 and named after its maker, Alfred Bleu.  However, in 1921, the exact same cross was again registered under a different name: M. Reine Elisabeth. 

The reason for all this Miltoniopsis interbreeding is that in the 1800s, orchids of this genus were in very high demand, but botanists' ability to hybridize them was quite limited. There were only 2 possible primary hybrids for botanists to work with: Miltoniopsis Bleuana [roezlii x vexillaria] and Miltoniopsis Venus [phalaenopsis x vexillaria].  It took another half century to discover many of the Miltoniopsis species we know today, and then more time for breeders to generate new primary Miltoniopsis hybrids in the 1990's.  Until then, overzealous Miltoniopsis breeders kept generating endless variants of the same few basic crosses.

Species progenitors of Oncidopsis Memoria Martin Orenstein

Photo credits: 

Oncidium alexandre  and Oncidium spectatissimum by Orchi

Oncidium nobile and Miltoniopsis vexillaria by Quimbaya (Flickr gallery)

Oncidium luteopurpureum by Dick Culbert (Flickr gallery)

Oncidium harryanum by Diego Rodriguez (Flickr gallery)

Miltoniopsis roezlii, by Strohero (wikimedia commons)
Miltoniopsis phalaenopsis, Wikimedia commons image

Here are the Orchid species that went into creating Oncidopsis Memoria Martin Orenstein.  These are all a familiar list of suspects that have contributed in various combinations to most other Oncidium and Miltoniopsis hybrids I've profiled: Oncidium alexandre, Oncidium nobile, Oncidium luteopurpureum, Oncidium harryanum, Miltoniopsis vexillaria, Miltoniopsis roezlii, and Miltoniopsis phalaenopsis.

The lip coloration of Miltoniopsis phalaenopsis shows up in the final hybrid.  Likewise the purple of Miltoniopsis vexillaria comes through, as does the slightly more ruffled flower shape of Oncidium alexandre and Oncidium nobile. It remains a mystery to me what any of the other oncidium species might have contributed to this cross, or whether their traits have been effectively bred out of the orchid during the hybridization process.