I'm sure this is a Cattleya, but...

[Acharn]

I'm pretty sure the bloom in the first picture is a Cattleya. I'm hoping it's a species, because if it's a hybrid it will probably be impossible to identify. The blossom is about 10 cm (4 inches) across. Wish I could get the story of how this plant ended up being sold in a weekly market here in Central Thailand, since Cattleyas seem to be native to Central and South America. Of course, I could easily be wrong -- I've got one new plant which a helpful member identified for me as a dendrobium after I was sure it couldn't be. So maybe it's not a Cattleya, which would be even more delightful.

The second picture is surely a dendrobium. I was struck by the similarity in coloring to the Cattleya. I have no idea what the species might be, but my wife says she bought it because it was different from the common commercial blossoms sold in the market here every week (well, every day, really). I would expect it's native to Thailand. It would be nice if someone could identify the species for me.

[fuchen]

Could be Blc Chyng Guu Swan.The trouble with buying orchids from the weekly market is that most of them have no id. Thailand is quite well-known for its hybridisation programmes and produces fantastic vandas, ascocendas, dendrobiums and cattleyas.

'Acharn', doesn't that mean 'teacher' ?

[Acharn]

Originally Posted by fuchen

Could be Blc Chyng Guu Swan.The trouble with buying orchids from the weekly market is that most of them have no id. Thailand is quite well-known for its hybridisation programmes and produces fantastic vandas, ascocendas, dendrobiums and cattleyas.

'Acharn', doesn't that mean 'teacher' ?

Yes, it does. I used to work at a private school in Bangkok, and teachers of high school level and above are addressed as "Acharn". Those of primary grades are addressed as "Khru" (from the Sanskrit "guru"). Unfortunately, the term has moral overtones, and I'm afraid that in those days my behavior wasn't up to the title, but all the young ladies of my acquaintance called me that and in my ignorance I adopted it as a nickname. I still use it, but at least my behavior has improved somewhat. Or I just got too old to misbehave as much.

Well, I was afraid it might turn out to be a hybrid. It's not really important because I don't plan to do any breeding myself so don't need the taxonomic info.