Pretty picture: Jackfowlieara Appleblossom

I like this one a lot too, though it isn't new: it's been on PATSP before, as Collierara Apple Blossom, in 2010.

It also has connections to a few other orchids you've seen before: it's the pollen parent of 2013's Jackfowlieara Lindiwe, and the offspring of Caulaelia Snowflake, also a favorite of mine, which we've seen in 2013 and 2014.

I like Appleblossom's shape a lot. It's not that it's so terribly different from other Cattleya-type orchids so much as the labellum has exactly the right amount of ruffliness, and the other sepals are pointed just the right amount. This may or may not be correct according to orchid-judging rules,¹ but I'm a rebel and stuff. The color doesn't hurt either. I like pink and yellow together. Why not?

Jackfowlieara Appleblossom = Caulaelia Snowflake x Rhyncattleanthe Orange Nuggett² (Ref.)

-

¹ Are there general rules for judging broad categories like "Cattleya Alliance," where a certain petal angle or lip ruffle is desirable but others aren't? (I mean, I know that orchid breeders see certain qualities as more desirable than others, so is it the same in shows?) Is every Jackfowlieara Appleblossom judged only against other Jackfowlieara Appleblossoms? Or something in between? I have no experience with orchid-show judging and barely even pay attention to the ribbons at the show (all the plants seem to get ribbons; it barely registers with me what color any of the ribbons are unless I happen to get one in the frame of a photo, and even then I don't notice them until after I get home and I'm looking through the pictures), so I have no idea how any of this works. What are they even getting judged on? Is it all just political, and you get ribbons if people like you personally? Are there superdelegates?
² "Nuggett" is apparently not a misspelling; several cvv. in the orchid registry contain it, mostly Rhyncattleanthes. I imagine either they're all named after the same person, or they're all produced by the same person. Or both. I didn't check.

Pretty picture: Collierara Apple Blossom

Collierara is a multigeneric hybrid in the Cattleya Alliance.¹ Three of the genera involved, Brassavola, Cattleya, and Laelia, are pretty ordinary -- everything has them in it -- but then there's a new one: Caularthron, which sounds less like a flower and more like someone from Greek mythology. Good old star-eyed Caularthron, people would say. Shame about that thing with Poseidon.

Judging from the pictures that come up when one searches Caularthron, I'm guessing that's where the pointier, more angular aspect of Collierara (compared to, say, Brassolaeliocattleya) comes from.

Anyway. I'm extremely fond of this one, more for the shape than the color, though the color is very nice too. I think I might even want one.

-

¹ Or should it be, "Cattleya alliance?" When I capitalize "alliance" I feel like I'm writing a report for history class about World War II or something.