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

Catasetum memoria kampar yip

bought this plant with the label "ctsm macrocarpum" but the moment i saw the red specks on the outer petal before the flower opens, i know for sure it is a mistakenly labelled plant!
this however did not turn out to be a major disappointment because this hybrid is in my wishlist. catasetum memoria kampar yip is a cross between catasetum tuanku zainab petra and catasetum susan fuchs; the former is a cross between catasetum sumani (ctsm pileatum x ctsm saccatum) and catasetum fimbriatum. so i guess we know where this hybrid got its fimbriated lip margin from,
this plant was named in memory of the late orchid enthusiast Mr Yip from Kampar, Malaysia. this hybrid was registered on 3/3/1993. the seed pollen is from catasetum susan fuchs on the registra but as usual even a reciprocal cross between the catasetum tuanku zainab petra and catasetum susan fuchs would also be known as catasetum memoria kampar yip.
spike of 9 with very strong cinnamon like smell, could even smell it from several feet away. love the coloration and pattern of this hybrid, with distinct color markings.

blooms on 25/7/14

catasetum pileatum 'snow cup'

this is the pileatum i like the most, the white pileatum. the came came from the latin word 'pileatus' which means bonnet shape, referring to the large concave lip of the flower. therefore a pileatum should always have a concave lalbellum. this flower was the national flower of Venezuela until 1921.
no callus should be present on the labellum of a pileatum, and the lip should be concave, maybe flatter in some clones but never folds to the back. any presence of calluses or backward folding of the lip is usually a hybrid rather than a pure pileatum. most of the pileatum has longitudinal ribs that runs vertically down from the sac depression of the labellum.
the flowers are large, i am not sure if it is the largest among the catasetums but it is definitely the largest in my collection, the buds started out with light green color and the color gradually turn whitish and eventually white as it matures.
below are a few pics from this plant of mine, showing the gradual coloration changes of the flower bud as it opens. the bulb of this plant is currently slightly over 10inches and it is 31inches plus from base of the bulb till the apex of the leave. a very robust plant and i do hope it will continue to grow bigger in the subsequent cycle.


 the green bud below is the appearance of the flower bud before full maturity, it is greenish in color and the coloration gradually turns white as the bloom matures

the appearance at full bloom

just a close up on the anther beak structure (just toying around with the camera)

 these are large flowers, the height is near to 10cm and the width is 8cm

appearance of the entire plant, not shown here but the second spike is emerging. =)

size of the bulb is 10inches plus, near to 11. so far this one is the record holder in my collection for catasetums