New candidate for this month is a Encyvola Jairak Treasure (Encyclia phoenicea x Brassavola Little Stars).

Encyvola Jairak Treasure was originated and registered by K. Somboonpol in 2013. Brassavola Little Stars is the cross between Brassavola nodosa and Brassavola subulifolia. This cross has only 3 species in the background: Encyclia phoenicea, Brassavola nodosa and Brassavola subulifolia.

Previous Awards:

There's no AOS awards for this cross, although you can find in OrhidPro 21 awards for the genus Encyvola.

There are 16 AOS awards for Encyclia phoenicea. The most recent award was for Encyclia phoenicea in August 2022, cultivar 'Bittersweet Chocolate' AM/AOS 85 pts

There are 20 AOS awards for Brassavola Little Stars, most of them are cultural awards. The latest award for Brassavola Little Stars granted in November 2019 for cultivar 'Evening Delight' CCM/AOS.

Description:

The candidate plant has 17 flowers and 5 buds on 3 unstaked inflorescences up to 24 cm in height on a compact plant. Plant is growing in bark mix in 15 cm square wood basket.

Flower Measurements:

NS H - 5.3 cm; NS V - 5.0 cm;

Dorsal Sep. W - 0.5 cm; Dorsal Sep. L - 3.0 cm;

Petal W - 0.5 cm; Petals L - 3.5 cm;

Lat/Sepal W - 0.7 cm; Lat/Sepal L - 3.5 cm;

Lip/Pouch W - 2.3 cm; Lip/Pouch L - 3.0 cm.

Judges' Comments

Ginna Plude (Accredited Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

This is a well grown plant. Very floriferous, as you would expect from the nodosa ancestry. The lip is very eye catching and definitely stands out amongst the mass of flowers. On close inspection however the flowers have a couple issues that would prevent me from nominating it. First, the flowers are very cupped, but also the irregular pink patches overlaying the yellow/ orange base color is not pleasing to the eye. Clearly the grower has done a great job of keeping this plant happy.

Kristen Mason (Accredited Judge, Cincinnati Judging Center)

Thank you for this interesting cross. I really like the shape, markings, consistency, presentation of the lip and the contrast it gives with the rest of the flower. The flowers are cup, especially when compared to parents. Color of sepals and petals is OK, but could be clearer. Presentation on the inflorescence is nice. Size of flower and width of segments is smaller than I would expect from parentage. Floriferous is low for the cross. Although there are some nice qualities, as a whole, I would pass on this flowering.

Deb Boersma (Student Judge, Great Lakes Judging Center)

Encyvola Jairak Treasure

(Encyclia phoenicea × Brassavola Little Stars)

Beautifully grown, healthy plant with nice clean foliage and stellate flowers. The white lip is quite attractive with the contrasting pattern of maroon spots against the chartreuse petals and sepals that also display maroon spots, although I found the color of the sepals and petals somewhat drab. The flowers are quite cupped and although the Little Star parent is cupped I thought that the Encyclia phoenicea would help to flatten the flowers in this hybrid. Looking at other awarded Encyvola hybrids with Encyclia phoenicea as a parent the flowers can be quite flat. Some of the flowers have not yet fully opened also creating the appearance of being cupped. The lip margins are rolled on some flowers and lip form is not consistent from flower to flower. The lip obscures the lateral sepals making the flower form appear less full and lacking symmetry and balance. The flowers are well arranged on the inflorescence.

The geometric mean of the parents in terms of floriferousness is 12.2 flowers per inflorescence and this plant has 22 flowers and buds on 3 inflorescences (7.3 flowers/inflorescence) , not as floriferous as it potentially could be. It is more floriferous than the Brassavola nodosa species in its parentage but Encyclia phoenicea averages 28.4 flowers per inflorescence and Brassavola subulifolia 14.4 flowers per inflorescence.

Although I believe balance and symmetry of a flower is often more important than the size, size is pointed and therefore needs to be considered. The geometric mean for the natural spread of the parents is 6.7 cm and our candidate is somewhat smaller at 5.3 cm. The lip which is the dominant feature of this flower is also small compared to potential with Brassavola nodosa in the background.

In terms of a quality award I would not nominate it on this flowering. It is not floriferous enough to qualify for a cultural award but perhaps after a couple more years of growing, it does look like a very healthy plant!

Dave Off (Waldor Orchids, NJ)

This is a lovely example for the type. The breeding is an excellent choice. However, I think it goes more toward the pot plant market in that in has a very compact growth habit and lots of blooms on a small plant.

As far as judging, the flowers are not open enough, in my opinion, to be judged properly. Also, I don't think the quality of the bloom warrants a flower quality award. Both parents have extremely flat shape, these are too cupped and I would hope for more intensity in the color.

The plant should make an excellent specimen and should be an easy cultural award down the road.

Al Messina (Accredited Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

Twenty-three flowers and buds nicely arranged on three strong erect inflorescences emanating from a small, well-grown plant. Irregular blotchy maroon/lavender 'staining' on sepals and petals, as well as lip variable irregularities preclude flower award. The plant is well-grown and, with continued good culture and increased flower count, should qualify for a future culture award.

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

On first viewing, this clone is rather striking due to the contrasting spots on a large white labellum. There is a large variabilty in this hybrid, and the Brassavola parent appears to be very dominant in this candidate for flower style and vegetative growth. While B. Little Stars is a white flower, we can only assume the pink and other colouration comes from E. phoenicea. The high flower count also adds to the overall appeal. It would be an ideal orchid for apartment growers or those with limited space.

The lip is the most attractive feature of this orchid. The petals and sepals are not so appealing for the lack of clarity in the colouration and the random spots impart a sense of blotchiness.

It's a nice novelty orchid to have - but I don't feel it will be able to meet the quality standards for an award (at least from the AOC judging perspective).

Regards

Trevor Yee (Sydney Australia)

Pamela Noll (Student Judge, Alamo Judging Center)

Encyvola Jairek Treasure

A colorful display of flowers nicely arranged on the inflorescences, held above the foliage on a clean healthy plant. The flower size and cupped presentation is similar to that of other phoenicea hybrids. As a Little Stars hybrid, I would expect many more flowers than on this plant at this blooming. Keeping up with good culture practices should result in a higher flower count in future. I was not able to score the flower into the HCC range.

Thanks for sending us this nice plant.

Pamela Noll

Mary Cash (Student Judge, Alamo Judging Center)

Bright green leaves – pristine in appearance. Star shaped flowers with a large rounded lip. Pigmentation and purple/reddish coloration on sepals and petals of each flower and buds. Pigmentation continues along inflorescence.

Total amount of flowers reduced from parents.

Plant is well manicured and taken care of.

Well grown. Healthy

Laura Newton (Accredited Judge, Florida North-Central Judging Center)

Here is my evaluation of the Encyvola Jairak Treasure:

While there are no awards to this cross, there are awards to both Encyvola Phoenix (B. nodosa x E. phoenicea) and also Encyvola Dawn Henry (B. subulifolia x E. phoenicea).

Our current hybrid looks similar to Encyvola Phoenix, so in comparing it to this hybrid, the first thing that you notice is that the flowers are cupped compared to the 2 awards to Phoenix, which might account for the smaller size of the flower, but the segments are also smaller that either of those 2 awards. In evaluating the color, the lip is very nicely marked and for the most part is showing good form, but the blotches of color diffusion is very distracting! The color on both Phoenix are clear and distinct, there is no murkiness on them. The color disparity might lighten with age (as this all look like fairly fresh flowers), but in this present condition, that in itself would preclude me from scoring it even if the flowers were flat.

The arrangement and floriferousness are in line with this type of breeding, and the substance and texture are fine.

Due to the cupping and the odd color markings, I would not nominate this plant for scoring.

Laura Newton

AOS Director of Awards and Special Projects

laura@aos.org

Deb Bodei (Associate Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

Encyvola Jairak Treasure (Encyclia phoenicea x Brassavola Little Stars)

As a grower of both parents, I have to love the idea of this cross. A compact plant with the growing habit of Little Stars is a great idea. The habit and arrangement of the inflorescence is showing as an improvement in this cross with a good number of flowers on a strong stem, held upright. The form of the flower including the lip is dominated by the Brassavola parents which is not unexpected, with the color from phoenicea trying so hard to come through.

Hybridizers have been crossing phoenicea since the 1960's with the most awarded grex Orchid Jungle crossed with alata and yielding a flower that is a more floriferous Encyclia. Even that flower does not have a look far from the species as a primary cross. For our candidate, the sepals and petals are quite 'clawed' and not wide just like subulifolia, the lip is nice looking with nice markings from phoenicea, but the sepals and petals are muddy with no distinct color and markings are not clear.

It is not there for me for a flower award, so I am unable to nominate for an AOS award at this time. I think this is a cross that many would want to grow since it is compact and floriferous, so maybe a cultural award could be in its future.

Thank you,

Deb

Exhibitor - Bill Stender, PA

Grower's Advice

I grow this hanging high and as forward (south) in the greenhouse as I can. Loose draining Cattleya mix and it gets a heavy watering once a week and light misting as needed. It is blooming for the third time this year.