Hi all. I recently purchased this orchid at an orchid show. It was on a large table marked as Oncidiums. I'm questioning if this is really an oncidium. It does not have the usual ridged pseudobulbs of an oncidium and it looks very much like photos of a Beallara I have seen. Any ideas- Oncidium, Beallara, something else? Thank You for the help! There are pictures in my gallery. I still can not get it to appear in my post. Sorry
*** ETA photo *** (WR)
Last edited by WhiteRabbit; 03-18-2017 at 08:32 PM..
Reason: to add photo
That does look like Beallara (Marfitch, perhaps?) - Beallara is an Oncidium alliance intergeneric complex hybrid (all genera involved are in the Oncidium alliance). In the case of Beallara, the involved genera are Brassia, Cochlioda, Miltonia and Odontoglossum.
I'm sorry you are having trouble posting photos - if you haven't already, please read this post Tips for posting Photos
I have added the photo from your gallery to your post.
Last edited by WhiteRabbit; 03-18-2017 at 08:33 PM..
The sign said Oncidiums as shorthand for Oncidium alliance species and hybrids instead of listing Beallara, Brassidium, Miltonia, Gomesa and dozens of other genera and hybrid types. If it is a hybrid that was registered as a Beallara, then Oncidiums was a reasonable and accurate sign for the table. It can't be Beallara without also being an Oncidium in that sense.
And it does appear to be a hybrid that would have been Beallara if it was registered in the previous century or earliest years of this century. The spotting is rather simple and coarse for a typical Marfitch, but there are dozens of similar registered hybrids and unregistered crosses. Now many of those would be registered as Aliceara (Brassia x Miltonia x Oncidium) as the classification of the plants involved changed, and genera merged or split or ceased to exist.
Last edited by PaphMadMan; 03-18-2017 at 09:50 PM..
Beallara (Bllra.) is an Oncidium intergeneric 4 way cross between Brassia, Miltonia, Cochlioda and
Odontoglossum.
I have one like that it is a hardy plant that is slowly recovering from near death. They are so pretty. Mine don't like much light and they love the semi hydro. They like to be cool more than hot. Over all not that picky of a plant. I have 2 of them I am a sucker for these showy blooms.
I think that Odontoglossum and Cochlioda were merged with Oncidium a few years ago, so technically the nothogenus Beallara no longer exists. The plants which used to be Beallara are now Aliceara (Brassia x Oncidium x Miltonia), although I see most growers still using the name Beallara.
But that being said, yes this plant is definitely an Oncidium alliance complex hybrid, and is probably Aliceara (or Beallara if you'd rather).
It is in a family of orchids called "oncidium." It is like if you had a family called "dog" and one is a "chihuahua," and the other is a "great dane." Both are still dogs, but they look very different.