C. loddigesii, fma. alba
 

There are two stories coming here.

I have been chasing one of these (for breeding purposes) for years. One year ago, I got one from Silva Orchids; there was no clonal name on the label, so I just call it 'Silva'. The plant had a lot of backbulbs, so I separated 3 or 4 when I repotted it.

The main plant is in bud on two leads. Flower photo will follow in a week or two.

The BB division surprised me some. From the youngest BB it sprouted a normal lead, which has already produced a second growth (more than half way to BS).
From the oldest BB, it sprouted two smaller leads:

• A - from an eye about 1" above the mix
• B - from a near invisible eye about 3" above the mix

I have never seen Catts produce BB leads that high up on the PB before. With the value of this plant, I have to encourage B to set more roots and start the next growth (I plan to wrap some spaghnum around it's base).

Just found flower photo from last years blooming.

Beautiful flower! I've only had my Cattleyas send out a growth that high on the bulb when they're in trouble. Maybe dividing the plant caused some internal mechanism to go off that the plant is not doing well? I should mention this plant looks very healthy!

You could probably pull the oddly placed growth off and toss it. I suspect you might get several replacement growths at normal locations on the plant.