Dendrobium Cody Gomez (Dendrobium Ok Hye Lee x Dendrobium aphyllum). 

Dendrobium Cody Gomez was originated and registered by C. Sato in 2004. Dendrobium Ok Hye Lee is a cross between Den. Adastra and Den. loddigesii.

Dendrobium Cody Gomez has 3 Dendrobium species in the background: Den. aphyllum, Den. loddigesii and Den. anosmum.

Previous Awards:

There are no AOS awards for this cross.

There are no AOS award for Dendrobium Ok Hye Lee. 

There are 14 AOS awards for Dendrobium aphyllum: 10 cultural, 4 HCC and 1 JC.

Description:

The candidate has 28 flowers and no buds on 15 inflorescences, on one 83 cm cane. 

Flower Measurements:

NS H - 6.8 cm;                   NS V - 7.5 cm;

Dorsal Sep. W - 1.5 cm;    Dorsal Sep. L - 4.5 cm;

Petal W - 1.4 cm;               Petals L - 4.5 cm;

Lat/Sepal W - 2.5 cm;       Lat/Sepal L - 4.0 cm;

Lip/Pouch W - 3.0 cm;     Lip/Pouch L - 4.0 cm.

Judges' Comments

Al Messina (Accredited Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

Twenty-eight nicely arranged, pretty flowers displaying reasonable form and color on a pendent inflorescence. emanating from a small plant. Flower count should (hopefully) increase as plant grows, but might be limited by the loddigesii genetics. Relatively low flower count for breeding restricts award at this time.

Mary C. Mancini (Accredited Judge, Louisiana Judging Center)

Lovely flower with good presentation.  Flower count and form are good.  Would award it an HCC of 76

Mary Mancini

Joe Bryson (Accredited Judge, Florida North-Central Judging Center)

There are 8 awards to Den. Adastra and as you said no awards to Den. Cody Gomez or Den. Ok Hye Lee. This cross was made in 2004 and after 20 years has received no awards to date. It has one F1 off-spring which is a back cross to Den. anosmum. I think the presentation of the infl. and flowers on the cane are spectacular, but I think the form of the flowers is not as good as I think it should be, particularly the turned under apex of the lip and twisting of the sepals, although the form of some of the awarded Adastra's leave a lot to be desired, as well. The dorsal and lateral sepals on most of the Den. aphyllum, Den. loddigesii, and Den. anosmum are fairly straight. They do not exhibit the Section Spatulata-like twisting that Den. Cody Gomez appears to have. I do really like the presentation shown on the cane and the color is pleasing, but I don't think I could award this plant at this time.

Pam Noll (Student Judge, Alamo Judging Center)

Lovely uniform flower display on this cane.  The form of flowers is open with light pink segments, the lips are darker colored in the throat and have the charming fringed margins expected of its parentage.  The measurements are improved at most points over the aphyllum parent and grandparents. The individual inflorescences are arranged symmetrically in four vertical rows, well-spaced, and long enough so that the flowers are not crowded on one another.  I believe this plant could be nominated, and I would score it in the high HCC range.

Sincerely,

Pamela Noll

Paul Wetter (Senior Judge, West Palm Beach Judging Center)

Thanks for presenting this very nice Dendrobium Hybrid Cody Gomez.

By adding more aphyllum to the mix of the Ok Hye Lee Hybrid it would be nice to see more flowers per stem. Adastra averages about 55 flowers per spike and we are not seeing that here. One interesting change seems to be wider petals, which I would think you might see with from anosum.   

Would be nice to see this plant again on subsequent blooms as there is a possibility for a culture award with more growth.   It might be considered for a quality award in the future as well as there looks like petal fullness and lip color contrast continue to be interesting.

Would suggest keeping up the very good culture and bring back if there is improvement in these areas.

Thanks for submitting.

Paul Wetter

Steve Gonzalez (Accredited Judge, Chicago Judging Center)

Interesting hybrid that combines these very much grown species that makeup its’ background. While the forms in the background and overall size of the flower is not bad compared to the outcome measured here. The flowers seem to be consistent and the lighter segments to dark lip give it a delicate contrasting appearance. My biggest issue is the shape, dorsal especially lateral sepal twisting, and overall, what has been improved by combining these species in this manner.  To me most of the characteristics that dominate come from Den. anosmum even if it was only 12.5% of the lineage. Flower count is adequate as a mature, well grown anosmum or aphyllum should have about 30 to 40 flowers along most of the cane – this one seems to have a large bare spot on the top of the cane.  While Den. aphyllum is the majority of the background, along with loddigesii, you would think that the major outcome would be a large showy round colorful lip, but this lip is almost the same as a typical anosmum lip, maybe just made darker.  Right now, I would pass at nominating this particular flower, although the individual flowers or a specimen might motivate to move an award forward on this plant.

Tom Mirenda (Accredited Judge, Hawaii Judging Center)

Dendrobium Cody Gomez

As a Hawaiian transplant, I have a particular affinity to Honohono hybrids such as this. I have several and have been gifted with superior clones from local people who love them and are very serious about them at least informally. However, this informal love is a part of the problem. Easily propagated from bloomed out deciduous cane cuttings, these fantastic things are passed around the islands willy nilly from neighbor to neighbor. There are some superb, well-formed, colorful, large-flowered, floriferous clones to be seen in backyards all over the place, all of them probably having some mix of species within them giving them unique characteristics. So, my reaction to this documented hybrid is pretty mixed up. 

While this well bloomed specimen has its charms, it is not particularly remarkable or distinctive. Here in Hawaii, there are myriad larger bloomed, intensely colored, wide open, consistent in form, coeruleas, albas, semi-albas, pelorics etc. , many of which push this lovely plant toward ignominy.  This plant is average in most ways. Good points: well bloomed, attractive flowers, opening well, well-spaced etc.  Bad points: average coloring, inconsistent form, perhaps too widely spaced, not particularly large flowered, etc. Ranked among local clones of the breeding group, this one might not even be noticed.  However, it might remain competitive based on the fact that its breeding line is documented. If judged, I could see it earning a low HCC. Perhaps 76 or 77 pts.

Bob Winkley (Accredited Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

Thank you for sending along this lovely candidate. The single cane is well flowered and the flowers are well-arranged on the distal half of the cane. Color is very pleasing and the darker color in the throat of the lip a very nice contrast. Since the hybrid was registered in 2004, I have to wonder if this is a division of a much larger plant or a seedling from a remake as we only have one mature cane on display.

When I look at this line of breeding, a few things come to mind:

· Both Den. aphyllum and Den. anosmum have the potential for producing very long canes (often longer than a meter in well grown plants) which produce 1 - 3 (or more flowers) at most nodes along the cane. It's not unusual to see multiple blooming canes in the awards record (both flower quality and cultural) so that the display is truly breathtaking. The flowers are good-sized, range in color from near white to deep lavender-pink, and are fragrant. Their progeny (Den. Adastra) has a number of awards to rather massive yet stunning plants.

· Being a more compact plant with a prostrate growth habit, Den. loddigesii is known to produce flowers singly at the nodes of its canes. The lip of each flowes is very large in relation to the other segments and can be quite dramatic in both coloration (pink with a deep egg yolk yellow throat) and form (well-open and beautifully fringed). 

Combining the latter species with the other two would make sense if you are looking to reduce the overall size of the canes while hopefully maintaining a decent flower count. While there are no award records to Den. Ok Hye Lee (Adastra x loddigesii), Den. Bohemian Rhapsody (loddigesii x aphyllum) and Den. Carly Hera (loddigesii x anosmum) have award records which show very positive outcomes in this area.

There are very few awards to plants in this line of breeding with just one flowering cane; a number of the awards are also more floriferous on each cane, which definitely puts our candidate at a disadvantage. As a direct parent, Den. aphyllum is definitely pushing the plant size back up but I'm not really seeing additional influence. What I see in our candidate flower is how dominant Den. anosmum can be, even though it only factors into one of the grandparents. 

The color of our candidate is lovely and fairly even, but the photo gives the appearance of the hue fading proximally; for me the coloration of the lip is the most appealing part of the flower. The form is nicely open, however there is a good deal of distal reflexing on the petals and at the apex of the lip, as well as inconsistent twisting/rolling of the sepals. The flowers are holding themselves well so I am going to guess that their substance is good and that the pedicels are nice and strong. Would love to know if the texture is something other than matte.

In conclusion, I am not inclined to nominate this plant for a flower quality award at this time. If a colleague were to nominate it, would find myself in the low HCC range, mostly due to form and flower count.

All the best - 

Bob W.

Exhibitor - Jan Takamiya, HI (Associate Judge, Hawaii Judging Center)

Virtual Award Description

Twenty-eight attractive flowers on fifteen inflorescences well-spaced on one pendant 83-cm cane; sepals lanceolate, rolled distally, white, blushed pale lavender pink; petals widely held, ovate, reflexed apically, white, blushed pale lavender pink; lip rolled over column, white, suffused magenta, throat deep magenta, margins fimbriate, white; column white, overlaid light magenta apically; anther cap deep magenta; substance average; texture matte.

Grower's Advice

This special plant was rescued from the collection of the originator, Charles “Charley” Sato before his family relocated to the mainland.  It is the original plant that he lovingly bred, selected & named for his grandson.  It is “scentimental” & in this case is just as much about the people than the plant. 

During the growing season, watering is liberal, with weekly fertilizing.  Fertilizing stops in the winter, and water is decreased. Prophylactic insecticide is applied before dormancy and again when the buds appear, primarily for thrips. Aloha pumehana, Charley!