Saturday, February 23, 2008

Random plant event: Lc. Tropical Pointer 'Cheetah' flowers

I don't know what the name of this plant is. I mean, there was a tag with it, and the tag said "Lc. Tropical Pointer 'Cheetah' BM/JOGA," but I don't know what any of that actually means or signifies. From poking around this site a while, I gather that Lc. has something to do with the actual species or genus of orchids involved, and 'Cheetah' is the name of this particular cross, but I'm not sure where the rest of it fits in. If anybody wants to explain in the comments, that'd be peachy. (UPDATE: see end of post.)



But even if you don't know anything about them, the flowers are still pretty.

I have problems sometimes when customers ask me about orchids, because if they need anything beyond really basic care instructions, I'm completely lost. I've never had one, and although I think some of them are fall-over gorgeous, I don't especially want one, either, though I've seen a few with patterned leaves that I would have considered had they not been outrageously expensive. 'Cheetah' is one of a handful of orchids that have really caught my attention.

For those of you who can do the 3-D stereoviews thing (like a Magic Eye picture; you have to cross your eyes until the two images overlap, and then wait until your brain works out the 3-D-iness of the combination. If you're finding it too difficult to cross your eyes that much, back away from the monitor until you can.), here you go:



UPDATE: From shiver and alenka in the comments --

Lc. = "Laeliocattleya," = Laelia x Cattleya

Tropical Pointer = generic term for any cross between a Laeliocattleya Tropic Glow and a Cattleya Intermedia.

'Cheetah' = the particular name given to this clone (as not all Tropical Pointers are going to get the same combination of genes from the cross).

JOGA = Japanese Orchid Growers' Association, which I'm going to just assume is some kind of association, that you have to be a Japanese orchid grower to get into.

BM = Bronze Medalist, presumably from a JOGA competition held in the semi-recent past.

Q.v. the glossary at Beautifulorchids.com.

Thanks so much, shiver and alenka.


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lc=Laeliocattleya. That's a cross between a laelia and a cattleya orchid. I used to grow several. :)

Anonymous said...

I don't know much about orchids, but I recently had to look up how naming works for them, so I think this is how it goes: Laeliocattleya Tropical Pointer is the name of any cross between Lc. Tropic Glow and C. Intermedia. So whenever anyone crosses any Laeliocattleya Tropic Glow with any cattleya Intermedia, all plants that result from that cross will be called Laeliocattleya Tropical Pointer. So then you can have a whole bunch of different plants that are all called Lc. Tropical Pointer, but they are not genetically identical -- they'll look very similar though, and they are similar genetically. Then you can take a specific seedling that you got from such a cross, and you can give it an additional name, put it in single quotes, like 'Cheetah' there. And then if you make clones (thus genetically identical) of that plant, they will all be 'Cheetahs'.

As for what BM/JOGA, I didn't know what it was, but google found this: "JOGA - Japanese Orchid Growers Association. Term often found on orchid nametags, since this group also bestows awards (GM, or Gold Medal; SM, or Silver Metal; BM, or Bronze Metal). (from here: http://www.beautifulorchids.com/orchids/orchid_care_tips/glossary.html )

Anonymous said...

Anyone with compulsive plant collecting tendencies should stay away from orchids, or be prepared to take on a second job to support their habit. I've had a few phalaenopsis over the years, and recently decided to start collecting them, plus a few other types of orchids. Big mistake, especially with ebay available 24/7. Don't do it!

The Lc's are very lovely, but I haven't got the hang of them yet. Some of the other cattleya crosses are working better for my growing conditions so far.

Maria Rosa said...

Esta bellísima Cattleya ( ex Lc )se llama
C. Tropical Pointer'Cheetah',se cultiva igual que la Cattleya intermedia.
Con una luz controlada,sin sol directo y todo el año afuera con alguna protección del viento sur
Saludos
Maria Rosa