Worlds most pointless cross B. little stars
 

I swear nobody can tell the difference between brassavola nodosa and b. little stars,

(don't believe me look up them both on google images.)

i know that little stars has suppose to have more and smaller flowers, the the size of the plant also determines so it is practically impossible to tell. also you can still not tell the difference because brassavola nodosa has such a massive wild rage so their is so much variation anyway from central to south america.

bottom line is just get the nodosa and subfolia separate seeing as even the different species look similar

tell me your opinion

O.I. hehe .... I think it's like ..... if we haven't tried it, or haven't been up that path (road) ..... then we wouldn't know what to expect. So what happened was, the cross was made, and the results are seen.

It's a similar case for say Rlc. Village Chief North 'Green Genius', and Rlc. Yen Corona 'Green Genie', and the various cultivar members of both crosses.

A lot of them look the same ..... and people can't even tell them apart hehe.

And, many of the B. Little Stars are probably not even that.

Originally, there was:

• B. nodosa
• B. nodosa, var. grandiflora

Many early sib crosses were probably involving one of each, or possibly even two grandifloras. Since grandiflora has been elevated to species status now, some of the longtime 'nodosas' are actually hybrids between nodosa & grandiflora. And, who knows whether a given B. Little Stars was made with a true nodosa, or one of the hybrids?

That is interesting about the nodosas. I have two and nodosa Mas Mejor x Remar is having its first bloom and has larger leaves and flowers than the unnamed nodsoa. I had a nodoa that only bloomed once a year, like clockwork, every December and another that bloomed quite often throughout the year (it wasn't fragrant so another member of my orchid society has it now). I always attributed it to careful selection but it makes sense that they might be different species or combinations of the different species.

Brassaboring nothankyou

:)

Lol, I think you're right. I have no interest in Brassavola nodosa, so I'd never paid much attention to it, but I googled it just now, and then I googled Brassavola Little Stars, and I honestly can't tell the difference at all. They both look exactly the same to me. I guess maybe somebody was curious what would happen if they crossed those two (although I also looked up subulifolia, and I can't tell the difference between nodosa, Little Stars, and subulifolia. They all look the same to me). So yes, I guess I agree with you, but maybe whomever first made the cross was just experimenting for his or her own amusement just to see what happened? I don't know about why, but what I do know is that you are correct. They all look exactly the same.

On the question of why making this cross, the grex was registered in 1983 by Stewart Inc. That nursery has long since closed; whoever made the cross may or may not be alive today.

Since the cross was made by a commercial nursery, I am guessing at:

• Looking for plants blooming more frequently.
• Looking for more vigorously growing plants
• Looking to produce something new for the hobby grower market.

Another possibility (not that it applies in this case), would be a 'stepping stone' cross. Here you cross A x B, in order to get combined features, which you want to cross with C.

Having said this, it is not a cross that I would have made, as I always aim for some improvement in flower quality (and not just frequency of blooming).

From non-commercial sources, you could add a couple more reasons:
They happened to be blooming at the same time.
Something I could register under my own name.

I'd like to point out that nodosa and subulifolia look VERY different from one another. One is large and white, the other is small and primarily green.

Online photos are very deceiving. I suspect that if you had all three plants (nodosa, subulifolia, Little Stars) blooming side by side, you'd have no trouble telling them apart.

Many orchid owners and more than a few businesses have mislabeled B. Little Stars as B. nodosa or B. subulifolia, and probably some of the reverse, out of ignorance, carelessness, or a belief that one plant or the other will be more profitable. Too many are misidentified in pictures to be certain you're comparing the real thing. Add B. grandiflora and B. venosa and the various backcrosses etc. and you have a quite a group of plants can be hard to tell apart in photos, but as isurus79 pointed out the species and primary hybrids are pretty easily distinguished if you have them side by side and in flower.

Why make such crosses? The short answer is, it can be good business. If you are an orchid business that grows from seed yourself, and you want to stock up on some plant from this popular group, you cross the best 2 plants you have available in flower at the time regardless of which species or hybrid they are. You're looking for vigor, productivity and type, with good quality, not necessarily a controlled breeding plan for perfect improved flowers, and that is a perfectly legitimate reason for making the cross. And if you happen to be the first to offer B. Grand Stars, or B. Green Stars, Hugging Stars, Lady of the night, Madosa, Rediculous or the next hybrid in the class, maybe it means some extra profit.

Nice! Thanks Kim for mentioning that Stewarts made the cross.

Stewarts! Even though you're not around today, I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I'm a Fred A. Stewart Inc. fan ----- aka Stewart Orchids).