Orchid of the day: Cattleya Gaskell-Pumila

Cattleya Gaskell-Pumila

I have asked Arne to put some text together about our latest orchid featured in this post, Cattleya Gaskell-Pumila. 

"This orchid is a primary hybrid registered in 1918 by Colman.  Now, if you are familiar with the very famous and spicy Colman’s mustard you should know that this orchid hybrid and many others were made by the very same man, Sir Jerimiah Colman. Until recently Cattleya Gaskell-Pumila was considered an intergeneric hybrid between Cattleya gaskelliana and Laelia pumila and therefore called Laeliocattleya (Lc) Gaskell-Pumila.

A) Two full blooming flowers on June 18th, 2016.

Laelia pumila is now considered a Cattleya and, although many of these name changes seem unnecessary, Laelia pumila actually looks exactly like a Cattleya and the name change makes sense.  The same goes for all of the large-flowered Brazilian Laelias that are now considered Cattleyas – they look like Cattleyas and should be called Cattleyas.  Having said that, I have realized that those large-flowered Brazilian Cattleyas, previously known as Laelias, carry a difficult culture element into most primary hybrids.  They want very bright light, pronounced day -night light variations and not too warm temperatures."~ Arne.

B) The intense blue of these flowers are simply magnificent!

C) By June 24th, a third flower bud appeared.

D) The bud upclose.

Arne did take this orchid to the show table at the recent Maryland Orchid Society meet and was placed second under the Cattleya category. This was encouraging since this is not an easy orchid to cultivate. But the flowers are very rewarding.