Cattleya Gravesiana 'Orchidhaven'

Comments:

Suggested by LaRita Fast - Eugene, OR USA

I'm (almost) certain the grex of this beautiful flower is Cattleya Gravesiana, a natural hybrid between C. mossiae (Venezuela's National Flower) and C. lueddemanniana. This natural hybrid is fairly uncommon in the coastal mountain ranges of northern Venezuela and it was actually made artificially (registered by Pitcher & Manda in 1893) before it was discovered to be a natural hybrid. During my tenure as Cattleya hybridizer at Stewart Orchids in San Gabriel, California, I had the opportunity to see several outstanding clones of this hybrid, but as I said before, I'm not familiar with this one - assuming, of course, that it is indeed C. Gravesiana.