Cattleya warscewiczii size question
Login
User Name
Password   


Registration is FREE. Click to become a member of OrchidBoard community
(You're NOT logged in)

menu menu

Sponsor
Donate Now
and become
Forum Supporter.

Cattleya warscewiczii size question
Many perks!
<...more...>


Sponsor
 

Google


Fauna Top Sites
LOG IN/REGISTER TO CLOSE THIS ADVERTISEMENT
  #1  
Old 11-20-2023, 12:04 PM
Louis_W's Avatar
Louis_W Louis_W is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Albuquerque New Mexico
Posts: 969
Cattleya warscewiczii size question
Default Cattleya warscewiczii size question

Hey all,

I've been reading some old articles in the AOS archive, and wondering about Cattleya warscewiczii. According to the articles I read about the species, it can reach a size of 11 inches. Chadwick said it can top out at 12. I'd love to see that, so I went looking for a photo.

I combed through the AOS awards. All 82 of them. I was surprised to find that the largest flower ever awarded in America was only 7.79 (19.7 cm) inches across. Very beautiful, but far from the largest labiate cattleya

Why the extreem difference between reality and potential?

Does anyone know where to find a photo of such a giant flower?
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 11-20-2023, 01:08 PM
Roberta's Avatar
Roberta Roberta is offline
Super Moderator
 

Join Date: Jun 2008
Zone: 10a
Location: Coastal southern California, USA
Posts: 13,783
Cattleya warscewiczii size question Female
Default

Do the mentions of 11 or 12 inches relate to the flower or the plant? I think it's the plant (which doesn't get terribly tall). 7-8 inches natural spread for a Catt flower is very good.
__________________
Orchids teach patience!

Roberta's Orchids (visit my back yard)

See what orchid species are blooming in Southern California(New page for DECEMBER 2024)
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 11-20-2023, 01:59 PM
isurus79's Avatar
isurus79 isurus79 is offline
Senior Member
American Orchid Society Judge
 

Join Date: Sep 2007
Zone: 8b
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Age: 44
Posts: 10,299
Default

This is something us AOS judges have wondered for a while as well. Where do these fabled 12" flowers described by Chadwick exist? Maybe Big Foot has some growing in the dark forests of the Pacific Northwest?
__________________
Stephen Van Kampen-Lewis

Pics on Flickr

Instagram

YouTube
Reply With Quote
Post Thanks / Like - 1 Likes
Likes Roberta liked this post
  #4  
Old 11-20-2023, 02:42 PM
Louis_W's Avatar
Louis_W Louis_W is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Albuquerque New Mexico
Posts: 969
Cattleya warscewiczii size question
Default

"The flowers measure eight to ten inches across and are very showy"
- Helen Adams in 'Cattleya warscewiczii, a history'

"Cattleya warscewiczii is not only the largest flowered of the cattleya genus with flowers that can reach 12 inches across from petal tip to petal tip, it also produces the largest flower spikes with as many as ten of these huge flowers per spike"
-Chadwick from 'the king of the mountain that heralds the arrival of summer'

"Cattleya warscewiczii is famous for the large size of its flower spike, which can have as many as 10 flowers, with each one being up to 12 inches across"
- Chadwick same article

The bloom itself is one of the largest in the whole cattleya family with an 8 or 9 inch spread not uncommon"
- R E Post Jr in 'the building blocks of the cattleya genus: cattleya warscewiczii'


I cant find the article that said 11 inches but you get the picture.

---------- Post added at 11:42 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:23 AM ----------

Quote:
Originally Posted by isurus79 View Post
This is something us AOS judges have wondered for a while as well. Where do these fabled 12" flowers described by Chadwick exist? Maybe Big Foot has some growing in the dark forests of the Pacific Northwest?
Is there any chance the breeding would have favored form over size? It's hard to imagine that they would completely ignore a 12" flower because it's a little droopy.

There is also a lot of talk of the different varieties. Again, it seems doubtful that we would forget about the largest variety because of bad form or color.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 11-21-2023, 12:07 AM
isurus79's Avatar
isurus79 isurus79 is offline
Senior Member
American Orchid Society Judge
 

Join Date: Sep 2007
Zone: 8b
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Age: 44
Posts: 10,299
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Louis_W View Post

Is there any chance the breeding would have favored form over size? It's hard to imagine that they would completely ignore a 12" flower because it's a little droopy.

There is also a lot of talk of the different varieties. Again, it seems doubtful that we would forget about the largest variety because of bad form or color.
I think you're right to think that size would not have been totally tossed aside in favor of form. Someone out there would be breeding for size!
__________________
Stephen Van Kampen-Lewis

Pics on Flickr

Instagram

YouTube
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 11-21-2023, 03:26 PM
orchidman77 orchidman77 is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Nov 2009
Zone: 6a
Location: Denver, CO
Age: 31
Posts: 607
Cattleya warscewiczii size question Male
Default

I'm grumpy and think that people have exaggerated actual measurements. Sure, it's still huge in full bloom, and my tent's full of seedlings, so we'll see.
__________________
David
Reply With Quote
Post Thanks / Like - 1 Likes
Likes isurus79 liked this post
  #7  
Old 03-11-2024, 04:09 PM
Manfred Busche Manfred Busche is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 135
Cattleya warscewiczii size question
Default

Cattleya warscewiczii are my favorites by a mile ... and so I have been pondering this question before.

My personal assumption :: in the early days of 'orchid craze' there might have been a colony of a few hundred of very large plants (3N , 4N ?) producing such large flowers , probably found at that time in an isolated pocket of the Colombian jungle.

But due to poor cultivation in those early days , these plants over decades have died one by one until none exist today.

This my assumption is somewhat supported by the following. I cultivate 1 plant of C. mendeli (repeat mendeli) , the still natural flowers of which are quite different to those of 'improved' C. mendelii. These natural C. mendeli flowers make me feel bored with the ever similar results of modern line breeding ... (smile)

Note that Mr. Chadwick senior writes of natural species plants ...

Remark :: my plants of C. warscewiczii regularly grow to 60 cms (p.bulb + leaf) , and flower size is 8+ in , but none comes near to what Chadwick writes ...

Last edited by Manfred Busche; 04-21-2024 at 07:04 PM..
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 03-11-2024, 10:32 PM
estación seca's Avatar
estación seca estación seca is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Jun 2015
Zone: 9b
Location: Phoenix AZ - Lower Sonoran Desert
Posts: 18,597
Cattleya warscewiczii size question Male
Default

It was at one time called Cattleya gigas.
__________________
May the bridges I've burned light my way.

Weather forecast for my neighborhood
Reply With Quote
Post Thanks / Like - 1 Likes
Likes Manfred Busche liked this post
Reply

Bookmarks

Tags
cattleya, flower, inches, largest, photo


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Cattleya warscewiczii isurus79 Cattleya Alliance 22 07-07-2023 03:55 AM
Cattleya warscewiczii 'Sanderiana' Manfred Busche Cattleya Alliance 13 06-10-2020 09:11 PM
Brazilan cattles and others, Bela Vista list for Tamiami pre order Ben_in_North_FLA Cattleya Alliance 2 11-30-2018 07:15 PM
Cattleya Callistoglossa 'Taylor' (purpurata x warscewiczii) isurus79 Cattleya Alliance 3 09-09-2018 03:29 PM
Cattleya warscewiczii 'Caliman' Kim Brown Cattleya Alliance 13 06-17-2018 01:12 PM

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 04:05 PM.

© 2007 OrchidBoard.com
Search Engine Optimisation provided by DragonByte SEO v2.0.37 (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
Feedback Buttons provided by Advanced Post Thanks / Like (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.

Clubs vBulletin Plugins by Drive Thru Online, Inc.