Oncidium Volcano Midnight 'Volcano Queen'

Oncidium Volcano Midnight 'Volcano Queen'

I am continuing my series of posts on the orchids from this years New York Orchid Show.  I'd like to stick with the oncidiums and related hybrids, so at to better draw connections between the orchids I write about.  I am noticing various species showing up again and again in my genealogy trees, and this will let me better highlight such links.  Once I finish with the oncidium-like orchids, I will move on to other genera.

Closeup of Oncidium Volcano Midnight 'Volcano Queen'

The orchid of this post is Oncidium Volcano Midnight 'Volcano Queen'.  It is a showy and prolific plant, with numerous sprays of burgundy and cream colors. The hybrid was registered in 2009 by Akatsuka Orchid Gardens, a Hawaii based orchid nursery.

Genealogy of Oncidium Volcano Midnight

The genealogy of this hybrid is relative simple. The breeding scheme looks deliberate.  What I mean by this is, there is none of the twisted knots of crosses and back-crosses like seen in the lineage of Oncostele Wildcat, for example. This genealogy tree shows basically the most efficient way to combine 5 orchid species into one hybrid.

Orchid species in background of Oncidium Volcano Midnight

Photo credits:

Oncidium sphacelatum, by AntanO (Wikimedia commons)

Oncidium fuscatum by Eduardo A. Pacheco (Flickr gallery)

Oncidium Cariniferum photo (C) Eric Hunt (see his orchid photo website, also, Flickr gallery)

Oncidium incurvum, by Averater (Wikimedia commons)

Oncidium nezlianum, by orchid-a-day.tumblr.com/

Here are the five species that were bred to create Oncidium Volcano Midnight. Once again, Oncidium fuscatum shows up in the mix.  This species has also come up in the genealogy of Oncidium Irish Mist and Oncostele Wildcat. It is a widely used species in oncidium breeding because of its numerous, plentiful flowers, and because it hybridizes easily with other oncidium species. 

I've also come across Oncidium cariniferum before; it is a parent of Colmanara Masai Red. I have not yet encountered Oncidium noezlianum before, but I was struck by the lush red tones of its flowers. Unsurprisingly, this stunning species has also been frequently used in the creation of many modern oncidium hybrids. In fact, it has been a direct parent to 160 hybrids.

Colmanara Masai Red

Colmanara Masai Red

This richly colored orchid is an old favorite from the New York Orchid show that makes an appearance every year.  In fact, I first photographed it back in 2013, as part of my Oncidiums of the 2013 Orchid Show post. 

The flowers are so showy, that I thought for sure this would be another very complicated hybrid. Surprisingly, Colmanara Masai Red is a simple cross between two species.  This orchid was first registered in 2007.

Colmanara Masai Red is a hybrid between Rhynchostele bictoniensis (seed parent), and Oncidium cariniferum (pollen parent).

Parentage of Colmanara Masai Red 

Photo Credits:

Rhynchostele bictoniensis photo by Stefano (see their Flickr photo gallery)

Oncidium Cariniferum photo (C) Eric Hunt (see his orchid photo website, also, Flickr gallery)

I can definitely see reflections of both parent species in Colmanara Masai Red.  IOSPE lists a "brown and purple" form of Rhynchostele bictoniensis, which has a more similar hue to Colmanara Masai Red.