New York Orchid Show 2017: Thailand

New York Orchid Show 2017: Thailand

My favorite time of year has come around yet again.  The days are getting warmer and lighter, and the orchid show has opened at the New York Botanical Garden.  This year's theme is Thailand.  The show's typical lush displays of color feature many Vanda orchids, which are native to Southeast Asia.

I'll be putting up many more pictures from the show in the coming days, but here is a preview of what is to come:

I got to the garden right as it was opening, avoiding much of the crowds that would descend on the orchid show later in the day.

Phalaenopsis orchids arranged to resemble palm trees

Miniature orchids display

Deep purple variety of Dendrobium kingianum

  

Zygopetalum flowers

A rainbow of vandas so colorful, they don't even look quite real

Dendrobium hybrid

Many colors of dendrobium hybrids

Morning light shines through Oncostele Wildcat

More Oncostele Wildcat flowers

What is a phalaenopsis? It might not be what you think

Phalaenopsis display at the 2016 New York Orchid Show

What is a Phalaenopsis?  If you are an orchid enthusiast, then at first this question might seem a little too simple.  After all, the Phalaenopsis is probably the most iconic orchid.  If you search google images for 'orchid', 7 out of the first 10 image results depict Phalaenopsis flowers. It's what I first think of when someone says 'orchid'.

What a Phalaenopsis orchid typically looks like: Phalaenopsis OX Black Face 'OX 1647'

What we typically refer to as a "Phalaenopsis orchid" are the myriad hybrids that belong to the Phalaenopsis genus. This classification encompasses approximately 60 species. Also known as the 'Moth orchid' or the 'Butterfly orchid' they are a colorful, varied, long-flowering and easy-to-grow plants that are a favorite among hobbyists and breeders alike. There are more than 35,000 Phalaenopsis hybrids listed in the International Orchid Registry, and nearly 100 new hybrids are added every month!

However, over time, I've come across orchid species that bear the name "phalaenopsis" which do not actually have much relation at all to the Moth Orchid.  

I wanted to find out, just how many such orchid species are named 'phalaenopsis'? Turns out there are Four. 

Bulbophyllum phalaenopsis

Caucaea phalaenopsis

Dendrobium phalaenopsis

Miltoniopsis phalaenopsis

This made me curious about what these orchids might have in common that they all earned the same species name?  Do they resemble the Moth orchid more than other species in their genus?  I decided to briefly profile each of these "Not phalaenopsis" phalaenopsis species and see what came up.

Bulbophyllum phalaenopsis
These flowers are weird. They look nothing like the Phalaenopsis genus, and app they smell like "dead, rotting mice".  Turns out this orchid was named not for its flowers, but rather for its large leaves. This species was discovered in 1937 in New Guinea.

Bulbophyllum phalaenopsis

Image credit: Image,  by Orchidgalore (Flickr gallery)

Bulbophylum phalaenopsis

Image credit: Image, Stefano (Flickr gallery)

Caucaea phalaenopsis (aka Oncidium phalaenopsis)

Before today, I've never even heard of an orchid genus called "Caucaea". These orchids are closely related to Oncidiums.  In fact Caucaea and Oncidium are so closely related, that "Oncidium phalaenopsis" is another name for the same species. Caucaea phalaenopsis grows at high elevations in Ecuador, where it was first described in 1869.

Caucaea phalaenopsis (aka Oncidium phalaenopsis)

Image credit: Image, by Dogtooth77 (Flickr gallery)

If I squint and ignore the typical oncidium flower shape, I can definitely see how the color pattern of these flowers evokes those of Phalaenopsis hybrids.

Dendrobium phalaenopsis

This is clearly another species that was named for its resemblance to common phalaenopsis hybrids. This species goes under a number of different names, including Dendrobium biggibum, Vappodes phalaenopsis, The Cooktown Orchid, and The Mauve Butterfly Orchid. This orchid is native to Queensland Australia, where it was discovered in 1852.

Dendrobium phalaenopsis

Image credit: Image, by Stefano (Flickr gallery)

Miltoniopsis phalaenopsis (aka Miltonia phalaenopsis)

This flower has almost the same color patterning as Caucaea phalaenopsis, and likely was similarly named for that reason. It was discovered in the cloud forests of Colombia in 1854.

Miltoniopsis phalaenopsis (aka Miltonia phalaenopsis)

Image credit: Image, by Quimbaya (Flickr gallery)

While none of these flowers are perfect doppelgangers of the Phalaenopsis genus, they clearly do have enough features in common to explain why they were named this way. 

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.

Miltoniopsis Herralexandre

Miltoniopsis Herralexandre

This was one of my favorite photos from the 2016 New York Orchid Show.  The elegant flowers of Miltoniopsis Herralexandre are just beginning to open. This orchid is a 1992 cross between Miltoniopsis Alexandre Dumas and Miltoniopsis Herrenhausen.  Following a tradition seen in many older hybrids, the name of the resulting orchid is a combination of the names of its two parents.

Genealogy of Miltoniopsis Herralexandre

You can see a full resolution view of the image here: https://imgur.com/gallery/ZMlZ6

The breeding scheme of this hybrid shows how just 3 different miltoniopsis species (M. vexillaria, M. roezli, and M. phalaenopsis) were interbred over and over again to create Miltoniopsis Herralexandre.  Here are the three species shown below.

Progenitors of Miltoniopsis Herralexandre

Photo credits:

Miltoniopsis vexillaria, by Quimbaya (Flickr gallery)

Miltoniopsis roezlii, Wikimedia commons image

Miltoniopsis phalaenopsis, Wikimedia commons image

Oncidopsis Yellow Parade 'Alpine'

Oncidopsis Yellow Parade 'Alpine'

This cheery yellow orchid is an old but still popular hybrid.  The intergenic cross between Oncidium and Miltoniopsis results in compact plants that bloom with spikes of two to five 2.5-inch flowers.  Oncidopsis Yellow Parade is a 1988 hybrid between Oncidopsis Yellow Bird and Oncidium Parade. It seems that the parents of this hybrid are no longer commonly cultivated, as I could not find images of their flowers. 

I was, however, just barely able to complete the genealogy of this orchid.  This orchid has 68 progenitors, resulting in a sprawling genealogy tree. However, in the mess that is typical of early 20th century orchid breeding, there are actually only 8 orchid species that have contributed to this cross.  On the Miltoniopsis side of the family tree, only 2 Miltoniopsis species (M. vexillaria and M. roezli) have generated 16 progenitors. 

All in all, it resulted in an intricate family tree that I encourage you guys to check it out. (the chart is much too large for the image embedded below to be legible, but it gives a scale to the breeding scheme.)

The very complicated genealogy of Oncidopsis Yellow Parade

One interesting observation revealed by Oncidium Yellow Parade's genealogy is how it is closely related to several of the other Oncidium hybrids I've profiled recently.

For example, Oncidium Brimstone Butterfly and Oncidium Golden Guinea are common progenitors for both Oncidopsis Yellow Parade and Oncostele Wildcat (which is itself a progenitor to several orchids I've written about.  The progenitors of Brimstone Butterfly and Golden Guinea account for 34 out of the total 68 orchids that went into the breeding of Oncidopsis Yellow Parade.  Essentially, Oncidopsis Yellow Parade shares about 50% of its genetics with Wildcat, Catatante and Sunkissed.

Oncidopsis Yellow Parade also contains ALL 16 of the progenitors that went into breeding Oncidium Midas.

These oncidium intergenics are closely related

Maria's Orchids: Oncidium Midas

Maria's Orchids: Oncostele Wildcat

There is definitely a similarity in the flower shape and general looks of Oncidopsis Yellow Parade and Oncostele Wildcat. The resemblence to Oncidium Midas is less pronounced by not completely absent.

Additionally, I have located my new record for oldest oncidium hybrid: Oncidium Wilckeanum.  This hybrid was registered in 1880!  O. Wilckeanum is a naturally occuring cross between Oncidium alexandre and Oncidium luteopurpureum.  During the late 1800's orchid enthusiasts would attempt to replicate natural hybrids by crossing the species they suspected to be parents of a given hybrid orchid.  Oncidium Wilckeanum was one of the very first hybrids to have its parentage registered and recognized (though not without continuing controversy and debate).  No one seems to grow this cross anymore, however, as I could not find any images of what this hybrid may have looked like.

Finally these are all of the 8 species that were bred together to create Oncidopsis Yellow Parade: 6 species of Oncidium and 2 Miltoniopsis.

Progenitor species for Oncidopsis Yellow Parade

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 hallii by Andreas Kay (Flickr gallery)

Oncidium harryanum by Diego Rodriguez (Flickr gallery)
Miltoniopsis roezlii, by Strohero (wikimedia commons)