Orchid of the day: Cattleya mossiae var. semi_alba

As I was researching the background of our orchid, Cattleya mossiae var. semi_alba, I couldn't move forward without talking about Cattleya mossiae. Cattleya mossiae is native to, and the national flower of Venezuela. Typically Cattleya mossiae's bloom is lavender in color or occasionally completely white and is a favorite classic cut flower for corsages. The flowering season is in Spring between March, April and May. 

A) Cattleya mossiae var. semi_alba in the clay pot. Cultured in the orchidarium in our basement.

Unlike the classical Cattleya mossiae color, our Cattleya mossiae var. semi_alba is mostly white with lavender-colored lip. This two colored Cattleya mossiae orchid first came to a young German botanist, Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach in 1856 from his friend, Herr Decter. It caused a sensation world world wide at that time. The orchid was then named Cattleya mossiae "Reineckeana".  Over the years botanists discovered that the unique color combination was not limited to Cattleya mossiae as many large-flowered orchid species had a plant or two with white sepals and petals and lavender lip. For years these orchids were called "white with colored lip" orchid, a mouthful. Today we call them "semi_albas" which was a term coined up by Dr. Gustav Melquist in the late 1950s. 

 B) Anthony, "Wonder if it smells good...."

By the time I started photographing, the blooms had already opened. Much to Arne's dismay! Today, it has been around three weeks since the flowers bloomed. In this post I wanted to share a 'new' technique in photographing orchid blooms. Apparently photographing in the dark would provide better contrast of the colors. I liked what turned out and will try to apply this style of photography in this blog more often.

C) Photographed in regular light.

D) Taken in the dark with flash on. Next time I'm going to have a black background too. Maybe black cloth in the background. Am I getting a little geeky now?