Vanda Tristar Blue

Vanda Tristar Blue

I visited the New York Botanical Garden a couple weekends ago.  They had just finished their annual Trains Show, which takes over much of the conservatory during the holiday season.  The Orchid Show starts later this month, but until then, the gardens become a quiet and peaceful place to catch a break from the winter outside.  Midwinter is also a great time to see the garden's Vandas at their best.  But the time the Orchid show opens up in a few weeks, many of these flowers will be starting to fade.

Vanda Tristar Blue

Vanda Tristar Blue is a 2004 cross between Vanda Kimigayo and Vanda Manuvadee.  The hybrid has a nice mix of the the blue tones from Vanda Manuvadee, while maintaining the neater petal shape of Vanda Kimigayo.

Parentage of Vanda Tristar Blue (V. Kimigayo x V. Manuvadee)

Image Credits:

Vanda Kimigayo, photo by Диана

Vanda Manuvadee 'Sky',  photo by Cbaile19 (Wikimedia commons image)

Tracing out the genealogy of Vanda Tristar Blue turned out to be somewhat of a challenge.  It's not the biggest genalogy I've trace (Oncidopsis Yellow Parade currently holds that honor, with 70+ crossings in its background).  However, as you can see below, there is a fare share of crossing the same hybrids over and over again that creates a bit of a tangled mess in the background of Vanda Tristar Blue. (Link to full-resolution image)

Genealogy of Vanda Tristar Blue

I tried to emphasize in the image how much just two vanda species (Vanda coerulea and Vanda sanderiana) contributed genetically to Vanda Tristar Blue.  Vanda sanderiana participated directly in 16 of the 39 crosses depicted here (just over 40%), and Vanda coerulea was crossed 6 times into the lineage. Meanwhile, Vanda Roschildiana, a primary hybrid between V. sanderiana and V. coerulea, adds to 5 more crossings in this tree.

Species progenitors of Vanda Tristar Blue

Photo credits:

Vanda sanderiana (original image, by Dalton Holland Baptista, Wikimedia commons)

Vanda coerulea (original image, by  Association Auboise d'Orchidophilie Exotique)

Vanda dearei (original image, by Rachmat Setlawan Saleh (Flickr gallery))

Vanda luzonica (original image,  by Akatsuka Orchid Gardens (orchid vendor site)

Vanda tricolor (original image, by Association Auboise d'Orchidophilie Exotique)
Vanda curvifolia (original image, by Association Auboise d'Orchidophilie Exotique)

The 5 species that contributed to Vanda Tristar Blue are the same as the progenitors of Vanda Roslyn Rogers, and are just one species short of the list for Vanda Pachara Delight.  These three hybrids have very similar genealogy traces as well, dominated by V. sanderiana and V coerulea. Looking at the species progenitors gives a hint why those two species are so important in vanda breeding.  If you want blue, breeding with V. coerulea is the only way to achieve it.  Meanwhile, V. sanderiana has the full-shaped waxy petals that often seem so desired in orchid hybrids.

I imagine I'll profile a few more blue vandas before I'm done, and I look forward to seeing what other commons threads I can find in their lineages.

Vanda Roslyn Rogers

Vanda Roslyn Rogers

Vanda Roslyn Rogers is a large pinkish flower, registered in 1990 as a cross between Vanda Fuchs Indigo, and Vanda Yip Sum Wah.  However, unlike the more popular 90's cross Vanda Pachara Delight (which shares 5 out 6 species progenitors in common), this hybrid did not have the same staying power.  Searches for "Vanda Roslyn Rogers" yield few results, most of them referring to people named Roslyn.

The genealogy diagram for Vanda Roslyn Rogers is shown below.  (Link to a larger image view)

Genealogy of Vanda Roslyn Rogers

Just like V. Pachara Delight, the genealogy of V. Roslyn Rogers is dominated by two key Vanda species: Vanda coerulea and Vanda sanderiana. In total, there are 27 crossings depicted in this diagram. V. coerulea provided either the pollen or the seed in 6 of them (22%), and V. sanderiana played a direct part in 13 of the crosses (48%).  

These are the 6 species that contributed to making Vanda Roslyn Rogers.

Species Progenitors of Vanda Roslyn Rogers

Photo credits:

Vanda sanderiana (original image, by Dalton Holland Baptista, Wikimedia commons)

Vanda coerulea (original image, by  Association Auboise d'Orchidophilie Exotique)

Vanda dearei (original image, by Rachmat Setlawan Saleh (Flickr gallery))

Vanda luzonica (original image,  by Akatsuka Orchid Gardens (orchid vendor site)

Vanda tricolor (original image, by Association Auboise d'Orchidophilie Exotique)
Vanda curvifolia (original image, by Association Auboise d'Orchidophilie Exotique)

Personally, I prefer the look of these parent species over the resulting hybrid.  However, it was interesting to see how two relatively similar family trees (Vanda Pachara Delight vs Vanda Roslyn Rogers) produced rather different looking flowers.

A classic blue orchid: Vanda Pachara Delight

Vanda Pachara Delight

Blue is a rare shade among cultivated orchids.  A few wild orchid species achieve that rare hue, but the only true blue cultivated orchid was created by genetic engineering in a Japanese lab in 2013. The gorgeous Phal has since been shown at a number of orchid shows, but don't expect to find one for sale at your favorite nursery any time soon.

In the meantime, Vandas dominate the field of the almost-blue orchid.  Vanda Pachara Delight is one such popular hybrid.  The orchid's flowers are a deep due of purple-blue, although the shade is difficult to photograph accurately.  Registered almost 2 decades ago in 1999, this hybrid is still often found blooming in stores and greenhouses.  Pachara Delight has since been used to make two more hybrids: Vanda Jan Marie Ryan, and Vandachostylis Mak Ho Seng.

Vanda Pachara Delight

Vanda Pachara Delight is a cross between Vanda Gordon Dillon, and Vanda Karulea. The whole genealogy is depicted below. (Full size image)

Genealogy of Vanda Pachara Delight

What stands out the most in this breeding scheme is how prominently Vanda sanderiana features in the genealogy.  There are 22 crossings in this image, and Vanda sanderiana is involved in 50% of them. Vanda coerulea, the second most important contributor to the breeding, accounts for 20% of the crosses. In fact, the primary hybrid of V. sanderiana and V. coerulea (Vanda Rothschildiana) already looks very similar to Vanda Pachara Delight.  

Vanda Rothschildiana (1931)

Photo Credit: Guillaume Paumier (link to original image on Wikimedia commons)

Three other species (V. dearei, V. luzonica, and V. tricolor) contributes to the mix. 

Species progenitors of Vanda Pachara Delight

Photo credits:

Vanda sanderiana (original image, by Dalton Holland Baptista, Wikimedia commons)

Vanda coerulea (original image, by  Association Auboise d'Orchidophilie Exotique)

Vanda dearei (original image, by Rachmat Setlawan Saleh (Flickr gallery))

Vanda luzonica (original image,  by Akatsuka Orchid Gardens (orchid vendor site)

Vanda tricolor (original image, by Association Auboise d'Orchidophilie Exotique)