Laelia purpurata var. alba

[Rosim_in_BR]

Well, what can we do if Veitch, describing this Laelia purpurata, gave it the varietal name 'alba'? He probably needed poweful glasses...

Laelia purpurata Lindl. & Paxton - var. alba on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[Becca]

Mauro that is absolutely stunning!

[Jerry Delaney]

Beautiful Mauro. Perhaps the poor gentleman was color blind!!!

[ronaldhanko]

Is there a pure alba form?

[Tindomul]

Very nice. Love the pink stripes on the labellum.

[Frdemetr]

Mauro,

You will need to explain (here & Flickr) why (only?) in LP "alba" doesn't mean "pure white"! Good luck!

[Cookiemonster]

Its a beautiful flower indeed but not alba, looks like a faded anellata variation to me

[Rosim_in_BR]

Originally Posted by ronaldhanko

Is there a pure alba form?

Yes, Ronald, there exists a pure white L. purpurata. It is called L. purpurata var. virginalis. Take a look at it following the link below:

Laelia purpurata Lindl. & Paxton - var. virginalis 'Campeã' on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Originally Posted by Cookiemonster

Its a beautiful flower indeed but not alba, looks like a faded anellata variation to me

Suzie, varietal names don't necessarily guard relation with the color and unfortunately, Veitch decided to give the varietal name 'alba' to this colored flower. It is against the common sense, but he did it! There isn't much we can do now, I mean if we want to be correct about naming L. purpurata varieties, then we need to label this flower as var. alba in respect to Veitch's description and label the white L. purpurata variety as 'virginalis'. Again, it is against our common sense, because the word 'alba' has a definite meaning of 'white', but... what is done is done!