New candidate for this week is a new hybrid - Cattlianthe Hawaii Island Bride # 32 (Cattlianthe White Bridal x Rhyncholaeliocattleya Mahina Yahiro).

Cattlianthe Hawaii Island Bride was originated and registered by J. Newman in 2017. This cross has 13 species in background, most important are C. loddigesii, C. trianae, C. walkeriana and C. mossiae.

Previous Awards:

There is no awards for this cross.

There is no AOS awards for Cattlianthe White Bridal.

There are 6 AOS awards for Rhyncholaeliocattleya Mahina Yahiro and 1 AOC award (Australia). The most recent award was in Nov 2016, cultivar 'Mishima' CCM/AOS 83 pts.

Description:

The candidate plant has 4 flowers on one unstaked 26 cm inflorescence. Plant growing in 12 cm plastic pot in bark mix and has 7 growth. Plant is 30 cm wide by 31 cm tall.

Flower Measurements:

NS H - 9.2 cm; NS V - 9.1 cm;

Dorsal Sep. W - 2.2 cm; Dorsal Sep. L - 4.7 cm;

Petal W - 4.9 cm; Petals L - 5.8 cm;

Lat/Sepal W - 2.0 cm; Lat/Sepal L - 4.9 cm;

Lip/Pouch W - 5.0 cm; Lip/Pouch L - 6.1 cm.

Judges' Comments

Trevor Yee (Accredited Judge, Australian Orchid Concul, Sydney, Australia)

My first impressions are the heavy influence of Marina Yahiro in this cross which imparts the soft pink colouration and exhibition shape. White Bridal looks very much like a C. walkeriana and I don't see much influence on this hybrid.

The main critique with this grex are the petals protruding too far forward. This does not provide the desired filled-in concave shape our standards stipulate. (If you looked long enough - you might even think the petals have some peloric characteristics). The frontal view shows gaps between the floral segments. The flowers are all facing in the viewers direction though bunched in my opinion. The sepals could be broader to provide a more filled-in shape.

Colour is attractive with the dark pink spot in the lower section of the lip providing a point of differentiation.

Unfortunately, the shape does not attain the minimum required for an award consideration on this flowering.

Fred Clarke (Accredited Judge, Pacific South Judging Center)

Not sure about the petals looking like the lip, but you can see a hint of the Candy Tuft look in the shape and coloring of the petals.

Beautiful color, unfortunately the petal shape would preclude me from awarding it.

Deb Boersma (Student Judge, Great Lakes Judging Center)

Cattlianthe Hawaii Island Bride

A nice pale lavender flower with slightly darker lavender on the petals and lip margins, beautifully frilled lip and petals. The large lip has a nice yellow contrast in the throat. Flowers are symmetrical but the petals appear to fall forward, the flowers are not flat as desired and appear to be a little crowed on the inflorescence.

The natural spread and the size of the individual flower segments are smaller than the Rhyncholaeliocattleya Mahina Yahiro parent but this is likely to be expected based on the pedigree of the Cattlianthe White Bride parent, which has C. walkeriana and C. loddigesii in the background and is likely a compact or miniature plant and therefore I would not penalize this candidate for having smaller flowers. However, I would have liked to have seen wider petals to fill out the flower and give it a rounder, fuller appearance. The lip is quite large and nicely frilled and larger petals would balance the flower much better. I find the dark spot on the central part of the lip unappealing perhaps a larger flaring of the darker colour would look better. Overall, I don’t think that it is an improvement over the parents.

I would not nominate for a flower quality award.

Al Messina (Accredited Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

Four flowers slightly crowded on one strong, erect inflorescence present with nice color. Relatively small petals augment a disconcerting fenestration/gap centrally/medially. A large median cleft in an otherwise reasonable tricolor (?quadricolor?) lip is unfortunately augmented visually by a deep lavender, almost purple, picotee. Cattleya standards presently are high. This plant might have been awarded had it been judged some years ago but I would pass on it today. I don't think the lip will change on future blooms.

Ginna Plude (Associate Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

The candidate is flowers are very pretty. I like the soft coloring of the petals, echoed on the distal portion of the lip, and the bright yellow throat is very attractive. There is not a great deal that stands out in the parents of the unawarded Ctt. White Bridal other than that the flowers of the parents are pretty consistently flat. The candidate flowers are more cupped. The petals especially are held pretty far forward (supported by the NS vs the length of the petals). The awarded parent is more vividly colored which is fine, but what stands out most about the awarded parent Rhc. Mahina Yahiro is that the flower are significantly larger. The candidate flowers are closer in size to the Ctt. White Bridal. They are also a bit crowded on the inflorescence and I'd like to see the petals a bit closer to horizontal. So while I would be happy to own Ctt. Hawaii Island Bride because it is an attractive flower, I don't think I would nominate it.

Thanks

Will Riley (Accredited Judge, West Palm Beach Judging Center)

This hybrid has a lovely pastel coloring. The lip's coloration is especially rich and pleasing. The petals are smallish in comparison to the lip. The symmetry is slightly skewed due to the petals pointing upward and not filling the gap between sepals. The sepals appear nicely arranged and flat; however, the overall flower is cupped due to the petal projecting forward. The flower count is as expected, but the arrangement on this blooming appears crowded. For these reasons, I would not score the plant on this bloom.

Mark Werther (Accredited Judge, Mid-Atlantic Judging Center)

Cattlianthe Hawaii Island Bride

(Cattlianthe White Bridal x Rhyncholaeliocattleya Mahina Yahiro)

I have looked at this presentation at least four times. I note that the arrangement of the unstaked flowers is very attractive and the flower count has been increased to four by the White Bridal. Pastel colors are consistant, but with significant reduction in size to 9.1cm. I note that the Mahina Yahiros, both 'Ulii' and 'Mishima', are outstanding pinks with sizes ranging from 15 - 17.5cms. Both have attractive edge goffering on the petals and lip and darker levels of pink tones.

Observing the petal peloria is where the conundrum flashes into importance as it is forcing the petals forward. I personally like many forms of peloria when even and uncontorted that these flowers are exhibiting and one of the common traits can be to have the petals biplaner. Many judges have the opposite opinion as they are more sympathetic to classical form.

I do not think this is backwards breeding as the plant could be considered a compact at 31cm. I would score in the low to mid-HCC range.

Mark Werther

Exhibitor - Sergey and Elena Skoropad, NJ (Associate Judges, Northeast Judging Center)

Grower's Advice

We have this plant in our collection for about a year. Last year I saw two plants of Cattlianthe Hawaii Island Bride, both with clear white flowers. Unfortunately (or fortunately) somebody bought them before I decided to buy them. So, I bought last plant of Cattlianthe Hawaii Island Bride with just a new growth started, with no idea what kind of flowers it will produce. Surprisingly, when I saw buds, I noticed pinkish color. I was very happy to see these flowers (four flowers) held strong on one inflorescence!

Like all our plants, we keep this Cattleya outside during the summer and inside the house during winter. I start using LED lights this year (from Home Depot) to provide good light for most of our orchids.