Cattleya jenmanii var. semi-alba

[Rosim_in_BR]

Really charming variety of this Venezuelan Cattleya. Wonderful, sweet fragrance. The species is very similar to Cattleya labiata and considering that Colombia is most likely the centre of irradiation for the labiate Cattleyas, it is not absurd to speculate that C. labiata probably derived from C. jenmanii.
Cattleya jenmanii has only now being more available in Brazil, basically the type and the caerulea variety. Semi-albas are still difficult to find and most of times expensive.
I acquired a few seedlings a couple of years ago of which this is the first to bloom and, to me, a pleasant surprise considering the overall shape and look of the flower.

[trdyl]

That is a nice one. And yes, their fragrance is wonderful.

[RosieC]

Wonderful yet again Mauro!

[isurus79]

I really like the pure white coloration with the intense redness of the lip. Really nice combo!

[Jan Pahl]

Yep, you are right Mauro, I agree with your opinion.... new evidence plublished on 2009 thanks God now also including Matk gene marker that is much trustable that the previous set of gene markers (specially ITS) Van Den Berg & company liked to use, has at last agreed more with what we previously know about anatomy.

starting with first unifoliate Cattleyas now we can unite more easy taxonomy and horticulturalknowledge with genetics even if pairing the 3 things still isn't "perfect"

Phylogenetically speaking the more ancient clade among unifoliates are "lueddemanniana, eldorado, maxima, lawrenciana" "low-land" group, in fact, even if their flowers are quite alike to the more resent unifoliate ones (thanks parallel evolution triggered by same kind of pollinators), most of them share some things besides ADN that separates from true labiatae complex. 1rst) they are the more easy unifoliates to identify simply because they had more time to develop species singularities among the group, 2nd) they have archaic traits like more than 2 internodes in the pseudobulb easy to see in all this group except in eldorado, or the vegetative aspect and the "laelia" flower column lawrenceana have, the more ecological "lowland" behaviour, etc. 3rd) The more chance they had to add introgression genes in the gene pool maxima clearly shows in his genetic make-up and eldorado maybe would show in future studies, etc, etc, etc... In one word, first unifoliates developed in "lowland" areas north amazon, if present number of remanent species indicates original irradiation place, them Venezuela-north Brazil have the more probable areas for original unifoliates, If maxima strange phylogenetic possition don't indicate introgression with central american extict species at soth america but instead represent that maxima was the first one developing from central america- Suth America Guarianthe-like colonization them true unifoliates are more ancient and North-North-west Andes would be the unifoliate "cradle".... No matter were this group was originally developed, the thing is that this "lowland" group are the ones that originally invented "corsage" large cattleyas, but now is only represented by few relict species wile almost at same time bifoliates had an irradiation-explosion of new species at the new colonized Atlantic Brazilian forest. Unifoliates had to wait to have their chance to cover large areas of south america with labiata complex developed later.

The second group to develop maybe from the first group or at least sharing the same "first" unifoliate antesesor was the luteola group (luteola-mooreana with iricolor), this group are more vegetative "standard" comparing to average unifoliate plant phenotype and behaviour but they had "strange looking flowers", again something that remind us that adaptation on new pollinators (more small euglossine) affect flower shape. This group also shows a trend never left aside, that unifoliates were adapting from low land to more highlands.... they never lost completely the "mountain identity" inherit from central american laeliinanes prior South America colonization.

The third group to develop was closely related to luteola group and maybe descendants of that group, I mean the "labiata complex" o high-land unifoliates. This group of flowers reminds more to the more arcaic "lowland" lueddemanniana group than the luteola group because they started again to use more large Euglossine bees like Eulaema and similar ones..... It is very sure the first one to develop was the ancestor of dowiana, and is logic since dowiana is more lowland heat-high-humidity species and for them ecologically similar to many other "archaic" unifoliates, also is quite easy to distinguish between other "labiata complex species showing their primordial origin...

Dowiana or "proto-dowiana" started to irradiating first with warscewicizii, another easy to distinguish species with ecological preferences in between low and high-land "labiata" complex species... them we have the full "high-land" "labiatas" and phenotype similarities start to be a problem because its resent history of speciation... It seems that the more ancient ones are species that adapted themselves to more dry and cold temperatures at the "ice-age" era, those species are mendelii, percivaliana and gaskelliana even if gaskelliana is more ecological similar to more resent species.

Species relationships on more new ones are more difficult to understand... it seems and flower phenotype of the whole species spectrum of phenotype possibilities could reflect it, that proto-mendelli-percivaliana before started separate between each other had an irradiation to south Andes foot-hills from casanare to aroa depression, at some point proto mossiae-schroderae because of different ecology segregated from protomendelii-percivaliana, and also proto-mendelli-percivaliana at the end of ice-age shrink their distribution areas to the small relincts we know today segregatind both to develop the two distinck species we know today... Them mossiae-schroderae irradiated to Magdalena valley and cauca starting trianae and quadricolor and at some point the latter 4 species separated from each other with more climatic changes...

Gaskelliana was another thing, separated from coastal "proto-mossiae" by the Unare depression is not clear if that species had change to interchange genes with mossiae or not once or more than once, but what it is quite clear is that phylogenetically old gaskelliana segregated to their cousings by the Unare depression, at some point of the end of glacial era had the chance to irradiate to Guyana plateau, cross the amazon thanks to more seasonally dry forest surrounded by savanna and reach Brazilian the Atlantic forest were their bifoliate cousins, Catleyellas, Hadrolaelias, sophronitis and hoffmannseggella's already had occupied niches, but it seems that "labiatas" are winners because today they inhabits large areas of the Atlantic Brazilian Forests even if climatic changes had "destroyed" the colonization amazonian "railroad".

Similarities among all 4 species and genetic evidence tell us that in fact jenmanii and ceará labiatas at least in phenotype seems more related to each other than ceara labiatas with pernanbuco ones, in fact pernanbuco labiatas seems very related at least in phenotype to Bahia warneri... The double spathe thing on brazilian colonies, well, that's is useful in horticulture but have no meaning telling us that obvious genetic and phenotype similarities between some Venezuelan Cattleyas and 2 of the 3 large flowered Brazilian unifoliates tell us a past history about how proto-jenmanii evolved from gaskelliana, and how proto-jenmanii at some point had the chance to have one of the largest distribution ranges among unifoliates now compressed to some santuaries eachone starting new evolutionary paths.

By the way... C.rex for me is a puzzle, no phylogenetic study include that species, but even if logic tell us that had to be "related" to dowiana and for them to the very first irradiation of high altitude unifoliates, something inside mi guts tells me that could be more even more ancient than that, even enough ancient to be part of the lueddmanniana group even if vegetative aspect and the presence of flavonoids on petals correlates more to the second and the dawn of the third evolutionary step inside unifoliates...

Jan : ^)

[Jan Pahl]

I like to add some schematic visual idea of how 3rd wave of unifoliates irradiate

Blue (((((dowiana-wascewiczii)))))
Red (((((mendelii-percivaliana-gaskelliana))))
Green ((((mossiae-schroderae-trianane-quadricolor)))

[kinknstein]

Great pic as always Mauro!
Jan, your knowledge of Cattleya family really amazes me, I very much enjoy reading your posts!

[trdyl]

Jan, I really enjoy reading your posts as well.

[Jan Pahl]

thanks both ; ^)....

Maybe I have to end this little essay saying that for the taxonomist modern point of view that focus more on living material more than dry specimens, is quite easy to be splitter until reach warscewiczii, and them start to be more difficult with the rest, them I understand quite well why for many people they like to be lumper sometimes, splitter other times.. all of this depending on understanding of other traits beside flower anatomy (ecology, vegetative, behaviour, etc)...something quite difficult to achive and mastered by nobody in my knowledge.

suma sumarum... sometimes what we call species are more agreements to show we know that some evolutionary path is happening, more than deal with incontrovertible species at strictu-sensu. In other word, accept that we don't know were species ends, subspecies (incipient species) begings or even how ecotypes and even demes are different from subspecies.