Cambria or Burrageara?

[junglejane]

Hi there,

I hope you can help me with this new orchid which I recieved yesterday as a gift.

It had no label on it, so I searched the web for a while, but I can't decide between a Cambria hybrid and Burrageara Nelly Isler.

I'm really sorry because of those horrible pictures, but the plant got damaged during transportation and I don't dare to move it any more.

Thank you everyone
Jungle Jane

PS: That was my first photo upload, I hope it worked...

[camille1585]

Actually both are correct. Cambria is the umbrella name given by the commercial growers to all the oncidium intergenerics. Cambria is not a proper botanical name. There are a good number of intergenerics, and Burrageara is one of them. Looks like Nelly Isler to me. When the blooms are about a week old, they are very very scented during mid day.

One word of advice to you since you are in Europe. I would unpot it and check out the medium ASAP, or at least dig around in the mix. Everyone who gets them in Europe has the same problem over and over again (including me) that can lead to the death of the plant. The plant is potted in bark, or so it seems. But in the center of the pot, deep in the root ball (near the base of the plant) there is almost always a ball of tighly packed sphag. It looks like the growers simply take the young sphag grown plants and chuck them in bark. Root rot garanteed!

[Nic100]

with Camille. I had the same problem with moss in the centre that Camille has just explained but it's been great since I repotted and is sending up new growths!

Best of luck!

[RosieC]

I had a very similar problem with the sphag ball in the center on a Miltioniopsis I bought here in the UK.

Mine is still struggling since I repotted, but while it's not growing it's also not dying

[lambelkip]

Originally Posted by camille1585

Cambria is not a proper botanical name.

Cambria refers to Vuylstekeara Cambria, a hybrid first released in 1931. The name should not be used in reference to any other hybrid, under any circumstance, since this only leads to the confusion we have here.

Originally Posted by camille1585

One word of advice to you since you are in Europe. I would unpot it and check out the medium ASAP, or at least dig around in the mix. Everyone who gets them in Europe has the same problem over and over again (including me) that can lead to the death of the plant. The plant is potted in bark, or so it seems. But in the center of the pot, deep in the root ball (near the base of the plant) there is almost always a ball of tighly packed sphag. It looks like the growers simply take the young sphag grown plants and chuck them in bark. Root rot garanteed!

good advice for anyone, anywhere. the root ball is commonly wrapped in moss here, too. even if it's not wrapped in moss, it's a good idea to check on the condition of the medium - you have no way of telling how long it's been since it was repotted

[junglejane]

Thank you! Finally the confusion came to an end!
And hey - what a lovely scent!

I couldn't find any moss so far but I'll repot it anyway after the bloom. That was a very helpful piece of advice, thank's again!

I usually don't trust the supermarket bark... now I've got a good reason for my paranoia ...

[camille1585]

I wouldn't wait for it to finish blooming to repot. That sphag is not always noticable just by poking around since it's stuck deep between the roots and usually in pretty bad condition. When my first Nelly died, I didn't notice the problem until after it died. So I decided to repot the second one I got, but after it finished blooming. Unfortunately it was already too late, since it bloomed nearly 2 months. I was careful with the watering, but the sphag core killed the roots. The third one I bought was repotted as soon as I got it, and I still have it!