Help with Orchid Colors or "Var."/"Forma"
 

Ok guys! Orchid var. or forma.....I kinda thought I had found all of them in the past, you know, the basic ones....I've figured some out just from seeing them. Today however, I was hunting for a couple of specific Cattleya & Laelia species in what I THOUGHT to be my favorite variation and then I suddenly found this new variation that I loved far more....this happened again and again and again.

I have come to realize that I truly didn't even know 1/3 of the variations out there and now am worried there might be more variations that I would prefer instead and I should really be looking/holding off for those instead!

I have really been trying to find some kind of article or list that states all the variations so I can at least look them up and see what they look like. You would think they would have the "acceptable" variations for an alliance for judging purposes at least right? Where in the world do I find this??? I don't want the whole "Cattleyas range from pink to purple to white" I want actual, official names of all the colors they can be....you know what I mean? For example, Coerulea, Semi-Alba, Albescens, so on so forth! Where can I get a list of all of these??

Thanks guys and forgive me if I used any terms incorrectly!

Orchidist's GlossaryNot exactly what you want but it's in there.

They're just Latin for colors, you can Google them to find their meaning.
Some others I know:
Yellow: Flava
Red: Rubra
Purple: Purpurea

Remember the ends can be changed, for example Flava and Flavum mean the same.
The orchid glossary rbarata linked to is also good.

Emma,

The terms are unfortunately mixed up. An official 'variety' has been formally described in a scientific journal (= magazine with peer review).

However, many early formally described varieties, were simply color forms, which are no longer considered to be varieties.

There is no single listing with all varieties. I think that some of the orchid database packages will list at least the better known varieties, but I don't think any can be considered 100% complete.

Some of the more important species have a lot of described varieties (Paph insigne has about 100, but not all have been properly published).

Thanks guys!!! Rbarata....That actually does help...not exactly what I was thinking BUT it actually came in handy for some colors and some other questions I had! So thank you for that!

Bulbopedilum! Thank you for that too! I knew they had to be based on some language but just wasn't sure which one! Knowing they are Latin does help too!

And at last, Fair Orchids.....Ya.......it kinda feels all sorts of mixed up! Oh my goodness its complicated! I feel like I have seen at least a hundred or so different colors in the past 48 hours and my mind has just been totally blown!!!! I had NO idea there were SOOO many but I totally believe it....You would think they would create some kind of list of what varieties each species can have at least....every time I think I have found them all it seems like another one or two shows up! Its just unbelievable!

I guess this is one topic I will have to continue to find mysterious and illusive and that will never cease to surprise me! But, I guess that is one of the reasons why orchids are so addicting!