catasetum fimbriatum 16-2013

first fimbriatum bloom for the year 2013 and also the highest count for this fimbriatum variety i had so far. sixteen of them in a spike. the smell is very pleasant, slight sweet minty type to my nose, noticeable about 4-5 feet distance from the flower. in fact it was the first smell that greeted me this morning the moment i step foot in the garden.

the first two pic is the natural color of this fimbriatum variety

appearance of the spike

 i did not trimmed the lateral sepals, they will arch to the back of the column, almost touching each other as the flower matures. the final two pic shows the position of the lateral sepals as they arched backwards. comparison can be made with the pic just above this phrase

detail of the fimbriatum flower

catasetum Chong Keng Yong

this is a cross between catasetum Bound for Glory with catasetum Susan Fuchs 'burgundy chips'. this plant had been with me for two years plus but after the second spike of male inflorescence, this plant has produced female inflorescence since then. for this season, once the spike started to emerge, i transferred the entire plant to a shady place to have higher chance of male inflorescence and eureka!
thirteen of them in this spike, in fact the highest count for this variety so far. i like the prominent callus on the labellum, raised and coarse in texture.

the first pic below, showing individual close up of the flower

picture two to picture five, multiple shots at the spike with under different lighting 

the last pic below is a closeup on the detail of the callus on the labellum

i am not sure if anyone notice, there are individual flowers (two to be exact) where the tip of the labellum is void of the greenish hue. when i initially got this plant and earn my own spike, all the flowers do not have the greenish hue. but the subsequent inflorescence has it. the first picture is the individual flower without it and most of the flower facing the camera has the greenish hue on it

catasetum ciliatum

this species is readily identified by its ciliated lip margin and the velvety of the inner labellum. the catasetum ciliatum. it has a pair of short stout trigger pollina, resembles a pair of fangs (same goes to its closely related species namely the roseoalbum, longifolium and gardneri under the pseudocatasetum group). the spike is erected in nature and epiphytic in nature as well.
it is recently that i learn that ciliatum is not a synonym for ctsm discolor. two closely resemblance species, from one internet citation there is 65% genetic similarity. however the ciliatum is identified by the presence of the purplish brown velvety stripes on the inner labellum with the more dark colored frimbriated lip margin near the tip of the labellum and in nature the ciliatum is epiphytic while the discolor is terrestial in nature.
ciliatum sepals and petal are curled, greenish white in color. the rim of the labellum is whithish with dark purplish browh tip. the appearance of the small flower is sometimes described as resemblance to a bee at flight.

first and second picture below is the appearance of part of the spike

close up of the pic, the inner velvety of the labellum and the cilia on the periphery is visible here

pic below showing closeup of the trigger pollina, as mentioned earlier, "fangs"