This week we have the Aussie Dendrobium - Dendrobium Australian Artist (Den. Cobber 'Violet Gold' x Den. spesiosum v. curvicaule 'Daylight Moon' FCC/AOC). 

Dendrobium Australian Artist was originated and registered by Australian O.N. in 2004. Dendrobium Cobber was registered by Down Under O.N. in 2001 and this is the cross between Den. Aussie Treat and Den. Candice.

Dendrobium Australian Artist has several Australian Dendrobium species in the background, including Den. speciosum - 56 %, Den. kingianum - 20%, and few other, including tetragonum, freckeri and falcorostrum.

Previous Awards:

There is no AOS awards for this cross. However, you can find 5 Australian Orchid Council (AOC) awards in OrchidPro for 3 cultivar. 

There is no AOS awards for Dendrobium Cobber. 

However, there are many AOS and AOC awards for Den. spesiosum  including Den. spesiosum v. curvicaule

Description:

The candidate plant has 74 flowers and 12 buds on 9 staked inflorescences up to 19 cm in height. Plant has 17 growths and growing in 5 inch (12.5 cm) pot. Plant is 63 cm wide and 35 cm in height (without inflorescences).

Flower Measurements:

NS H - 3.2 cm;                   NS V - 3.4 cm;

Dorsal Sep. W - 0.8 cm;    Dorsal Sep. L - 2.0 cm;

Petal W - 0.4 cm;               Petals L - 1.7 cm;

Lat/Sepal W - 1.0 cm;       Lat/Sepal L - 2.3 cm;

Lip/Pouch W - 1.0 cm;     Lip/Pouch L - 1.3 cm.

Judges' Comments

Kristen Mason (Accredited Judge, Cincinnati Judging Center)

Thank you for this lovely and vigorous pot plant. Markings and lip are interesting and consistent. I like the circle of fine dots at the base of the column, it pulls the flower together nicely. Substance is good, as expected. Flowers are cupped, especially the petals. Petals are narrow. Size is as expected. For the awards, and parentage, this beautiful plant is currently under flowered. Display is nice, but not exceptional. I would pass on this flowering.

Al Messina (Accredited Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

A nice display of a relatively well grown, compact plant in the early stages of bloom, slightly premature for judging at this time.

However, even after one or two weeks of further care, in my opinion, it would be difficult to find an award for this candidate on this bloom cycle.

Flower count is considerably below the Australian awards average (slightly over 9 vs almost 15); and most size measurements smaller. Sizes can increase significantly with further watering and time but flower count is fixed.

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

A well grown and displayed specimen with most of the inflorescences of similar height above the foliage. The colour of the flower is striking with a contrasting pink lip on lime-yellow coloured floral segments. 

Australian dendrobiums will open up in the morning and by late afternoon tend to close. Depending when these photos were taken, this clone of Australian Artist appear to be rather cuppy. Many of the AOC (Australian Orchid Council) awarded hybrid dendrobiums have nice open flowers - hence giving us the benchmark of what can be expected. 

On closer inspection of the canes, there does not appear to be many previous flowerings (ie no dead flower stubble). There is potential for this orchid to produce more flowers per raceme in the future as this plant matures. 

I'm not recommending it for an award due to the closed/cuppy nature of the flowers, and the petals are a bit narrow relative to the sepals/dorsal.

Deb Boersma (Student Judge, Great Lakes Judging Center)

Dendrobium Australian Artist

These Australian dendrobiums are beautiful and this one is no exception. The plant looks well grown and healthy but has not reached the potential for a cultural award as these can be extremely large and floriferous plants. Kudos to the grower of this plant it is a nicely grown.

As there are no AOS awards I have referred to the AOC awards and pictures of this cross posted on Orchid Wiz. The flowers are quite beautiful but there are some issues in terms of quality. The flower appears to be more cupped than some other the other cultivars, inheriting this from the speciosum v. curvicale parent, so not entirely unexpected. The lip shape is not as desirable as seen on many other flowers. The chartreuse color is quite pleasing and the contrasting magenta spots on the base of the sepals and petals are attractive, the lip color is very vibrant and contrasts very nicely with the sepals and petals. Many of the other cultivars have much bolder and more prominent spotting all along the margins of the sepals giving the flower a more dramatic appearance. In the video the flower form seems to be inconsistent from flower to flower and the arrangement on the inflorescence could be better. With the Den. speciosum as one of the parents I would expect it to be a little more floriferous.

I would not nominate this plant for a quality award at this time.

Thanks

Carol Beule (Accredited Judge, Pacific South Judging Center)

The Australians gave it an Award of Distinction for its coloration of a plant with over 500 flowers! back in 2010.  See attached.  They didn't bother with a flower award as they didn't think it sufficiently good!  We definitely might have thought it good enough because we don't see enough of these!

The petals of this specimen are far too small to be considered properly grown.  I would think it was the genetics of the plant that has caused this and not the grower's culture.  With its background and the other images I have found, the flower needs to be both more open and have more flowers on any one inflorescence to be considered for an award.  Many speciosum have many more flowers per stem, and so do the images of this hybrid I have found.  The flowers also "droop", which is not an attractive stance.

Basically, this plant would be screened by me and most I know who grow these plants. 

Fred Clarke (Accredited Judge, Pacific South Judging Center)

Aussie dens can close up a bit when the sun is not shining on them. You see them at show all the time, when the plants are in the growing area during the day the flowers are full open and when they come indoors the close up a bit as they do at night…

Deb Bodei (Associate Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

Dendrobium Australian Artist

Observations

A very clean, bright and cheery plant.  The grower is doing a good job of growing it.  It is still a relatively young plant so we are judging for a flower award. 

My first impression of this flower is that it most closely resembles the kingianum in the background. It's form is cupped and the flower count is low compared to others awarded outside the AOS for this cross. The petals are small and the size overall as well as other segments are smaller. The base color is good, but I don't find the markings to be as pleasing as some of the other photos of this cross.  The name of the cross is Australian Artist and it seems it was named for that because many of the plants from this cross look like they have been painted with a brush and are very colorful.  I don't think this candidate measures up on the markings.  The lip pattern is also not very defined and gives a rather blotchy appearance.

Nominations

I would not nominate on this flowering but it could have potential for a cultural award when it gets bigger.  It does give an overall cheery and bright appearance and the flowers do stand above the foliage on strong inflorescence.  With a higher flower count it certainly can be considered for culture.

Thank you,

Deb 

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

Grower's Advice