catasetum pileatum 'green gold; x catasetum susan fuchs - Ctsm Penang type II

another sibling of the Ctsm Pileatum 'Green Gold' x Ctsm Susan Fuchs, i labelled this as Ctsm Penang type II. the flower has a prominent whitish callus, unlike the sibblings which is entirely maroon red. however the flower size is much bigger, the biggest one is about 8.5mm, with range of 7.9 to 8.5 cm.

catasetum imperiale

this species was initially named catasetum pileatum var 'imperiale' but was later recognized to be a species by itself. another synonym is catasetum bungerothii var imperiale. the word imperiale is to used to denote the large bright color flower of this species.
some believe that it is still a variety of a pileatum, some regarded it as a species of its own and it is even thought be a natural cross between a macrocarpum and a pileatum, HOWEVER artificial crossing of these two species fails to reproduce any close resemblance of this species. one of the more commonly known cultivar of this species is the 'Pierre Courret'.

this plant came with an infected psedobulb, initially got the infection controlled and soon a new growth appears. but when the new growth's spike is semi developed, the backbulb started to turn yellow and one of the flower buds fell as well.
upon removal of the infected bulb i thought the whole spike is a goner but luckily three made it. although the imperiale is sort after by many catasetum collectors, but my favorite is still the white pileatum.

appearance of the spike, 3 flowers

close up on the lip

catasetum pollination

for those who had been asking (including myself when i first started off with this genera), i would like to take this opportunity to show those that are interested in catasetum pollination

below here the first pic is the pic of a female flower, focusing the the stigma cap (the white structure sitting on top of the stigma cavity). the other light green structure with a pointed tip is the beak anther.
to start pollination, remove off the stigma cap, it has a sticky part that resembles the viscidum of the male pollen,

below the video clip shows the deposition of the pollina onto the stigma cavity. sorry that it is a little 'shaky' as i was doing it single handed while the other hand is holding the camera. 

the second pic below is how i labelled my plants after the pollinaiton. ALWAYS labelled them after you are done. included in the tag is the crosses of the parents, the pollen parent and the date of pollination. once the tag is lost, it is merely impossible to identify the crossing when they flowered, this is especially true for complex hybrids that involves back cross. (a single pod can give rise to progeny with different colors, shapes and pattern of hybrids)

a catasetum pods may take up tp 8-9 months for maturity but for sowing purpose, i harvest them when they are 75% mature at least. sowing a green pod is easier as one can skipped off the seed sterilizing process.
HOWEVER i had heard and experience it myself that some pods had a much shorter maturity time, the recent one i had was three months four days. initially i could not believe it myself either till i opened up the cracked seed pod and there is tonnes of seeds in it. 

below is an update on the progress of the five seed pods with labels attach. if the pods manage to mature, may try sowing with commercial media this time. will update in this thread if i do.

update on progress of the seed pod 7/1/2013

(pic below)

pic taken on 12/2/2013 (pic below), pod attaining full size 

22/2/13, one of the seed pod did not make it. down to three pods left. what a bummer....the seed pod on the left of the pic is discolored. 

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catasetum naso x jumbo pearl - second clone

this is the second clone i had for catasetum naso x jumbo pearl. you can also see the mark variation of the off spring, thought it is from the same parents. just to keep track of this clone, i tagged them "green cap light spots". 

first pic below, the entire spike

lateral view of the flower

view from inside of the labellum

close up on the detail of inner labellum

close up of the lateral edge of the lateral lobe of labellum, showing the mild serrated edges

frontal view of the flower

another view of the flower

the last pic below here is also from the same parents, you can see there the marked variation between the siblings. the one on top inherited most of the naso gene while the one below had the characteristic of both.

this is the reason why it is at times impossible to correct ID a hybrid, especially complex crosses (it is different if it is a cross between two primary species) once the tag is lost. that is why, i always make sure the tagging is done properly. one can also keep two tag for a plant, one tied to the hanger/pot and another one buried right under the pot.

Catasetum Penang (Catasetum pileatum 'Green Gold' X Catasetum Susan Fuchs

catasetum penang, a cross between pileatum and susan fuchs. there are many varieties of ctsm penang but the red one seems to be most popular among catasetum hobbyist. initially when i bought this hybrid i was hoping for some green form of a penang due to the green gold variety of pileatum that is used as a parent. however the outcome of the cross is a deep red penang.

this particular division is rescued from a damaged bulb that got crushed when the mother plant fell on the floor. never that that i would be strong enough to produce a spike on the first growth. what i like about this plant is the shape and color of the flower. very well balance, could be a good parent for making wonderful hybrids!

catasetum tabulare

the name of this species is derived from the word tabularis which means flattened horizontally referring to the large flat structure of the callus. the flowers of this specie is large. most prominent feature of this species is the large triangular callus at the center of the lip. the callus is often smooth except in at least one of the variety, namely catasetum tabulare "rhinophorum". this variety has a very rough callus appearance, and personally it is my most favorite tabulare and shall remain in my wishlist.


the only flower that survived the rainy spell, had three initially but two buds were damaged by the heavy rain

appearance of the flower on initial blom

close up on the callus of the labellum

full bloom of the flower in the lower pic

lateral view of the flower at full bloom 

catasetum saccatum

the name is derived from the Latin word saccatus, meaning sack. referring to the sac/depression on the lip of this species but however this characteristic is shared by many other catasetums.
this species is most commonly mistaken with catasetum osculatum. however there are some important distinguishing features between this two species.
the lip of saccatum is longer than wider, the sac orifice is kidney shape while osculatum's lip is more rounded. the margin of the orifice in a saccatum is white in color or almost white while in osculatum it is often red or reddish brown in color.
the margin of the lip in saccatum is flexed from the lateral to the mid lobe section of the lip while osculatums lip is only flexed in the apical portion. the pedicle of saccatum is much longer, about 6cm while osculatum's pedicle is shorter, slightly over half the length. the spike of saccatum is pendant while osculatum's spike is erect initially and then turned pendant due to the weight of the flowers.

another species that occasionally thought to be a variety of catasetum saccatum is catasetum incurvium. initially catasetum incurvum is thought to be a variety of catasetum saccatum and thus was formerly named catasetum saccatum var incurvum but later the named was changed to catasetum incurvum when it was considered to be a species of itself.

first few pic are the individual flowers of the saccatum, i took this before the labellum folds backwards. in some of the varieties, the lateral and the middle margin of the labellum will fold backwards. for mine, i can see the midlobe apex is folding back but the lateral lobe haven't do so. i am keeping my finger cross for the lateral lobe not to backfold because i prefer variety that doesn't.
will post more pics on the entire spike and plant as the whole spike is at its prime (in the next 2 days). but for the time being, enjoy the pics of the individual flowers.

the pic below is the final appearance of the bloom, the lateral lobe of the labellum does not folds back as much as some of the other variety, only the apex lobe does.

As promised, the final appearance of the flower, pic immediately below is the appearance of the entire plant

 the spike in closer view below

the flower span of this flower is huge, 8.2cm

catasetum denticulatum on the double

what a pleasant surprise, the two denticulatum that i had decided to bloom together. this species had never failed to surprise me each and every time. denticulatum are small catasetums, but the smaller plant in the first pic, the psedobulb merely two inches tall. yet it still put up a great spike.
would be even more delighted if it happens to be a male and female spike. hahahaha.....i guess i was asking for too much. well, i guess that is human nature, in most of the situation we ask for more than what we would already had and did not appreciate the true value of the things we had and yet we are looking for more! well, i guess we just have to learn to be contented, in which is lacking in most of us. =D

Catasetum callosum - 2

this catasetum species originate from Brazil, Amazonas state and Venezuela. fairly easy to grow and not to mentioned hardworking bloomer as well.
the dorsal sepal and petals are fused, acuminate in shape but are separate in other clones. the antennae are parallel flank the callus at the base of the lip as they pass by. the edge of the labellum are faintly hairy with a small sac depression.

the plant and the spike, 13 of them this time

 image below showing the individual flower, the parallel antennae, and the accuminated dorsal sepal and petals are evident

 lateral view of the flower, the sac depression on the lateral view is clear in this view as well as the side view of the conical callus, just above the sac of the lip

the width of the flower measures about 2inches width

close up of the lip showing the callus, located just above the sac of the labellum

measurement of the side view of the flower

measurement of the lip

slight oblique view on the lip, antennae, sac of the labellum and part of the column

second spike is emerging at the same time, keeping my finger cross that it would be more than 13 this time, LOL