Cym. (Rosefieldense X erythrostylum 'Royale')

[Australis]

As mentioned a couple of weeks ago, this seedling has started flowering for the first time. All 6 blooms are open now (the last two are not quite fully open), but I thought I'd post some photos as we have been getting warm and windy weather and it looks like it is starting to brown the edges of a few tepals. It has a slight fragrance to it and it's easy to see that erythrostylum has dominated in this plant.

[Gary S]

Very nice Joshua, a very intricately marked lip.

[Australis]

Thanks Gary. I was quite curious to see what this was going to turn out like when I originally bought it a few years ago as a small seedling.

[MrCym]

You had me scratching my head for the Rosefieldense parentage...... Was the tetraploid Cym. erythrostylum used to make this cross? Sorry, it does nothing for me, looks like a poorly shaped Terry Poulton pastel!!By comparison, the Rosefieldense shown by Nado Lenkic is a stunningly elegant orchid........

[Australis]

No, this cross was apparently diploid.

I don't know which Rosefieldense Kevin used to make it. I think Nado has 'Atlantis'.

Considering the parentage, it was always going to be strongly influenced by erythrostylum, so comparing it to a multi-generation standard isn't really a fair comparison.

It's not visible in the photos, but the lip has fine hairs on it like you would find on Hanburyanum, so the tracyanum influence is visible there and in the stripes. Cym. hookerianum has scaled back the anthocyanin influence from tracyanum, though, so it's not as strongly coloured. Until it bloomed I had only Hooked on Classics and Hanburyanum to use as a reference for what it might turn out like.

[MrCym]

What multi-generation standard did I compare it to? If you mean Terry's boring pastel lollipops on sticks, then this plant actually has more character..... but even so it has no wow at all and I'd be very surprised if it was not made with a 4n Cym. erythrostylum, but I've been wrong before!

[Australis]

Yes, I was referring to your comment about Terry's pastels. I actually don't mind you criticising the plant at all (I agree it has no "wow" factor) but I thought you were making a comparison.

I got this from Ocean View Orchids and they got the ploidy information from Kevin directly. So as far as I am aware, it's 2N.

[MrCym]

OK, I don't believe Kevin had a diploid regular Cym erythrostylum except the album form. It would be more interesting if that was the parent. Who is Ocean View Orchids? A name I've not heard of.

This Forum should be comfortable reading negative comments as well as positive ones. If we are all to gain knowledge we must feel comfortable giving opinions and also it's quite OK to then defend them. It's nothing personal with Tee Pee, he's a lovely man, salt of the earth. But he's allowed the dumb-ass judges to coax him into hybridizing and growing dead boring standard Cyms. Most of the point-based Cym judging systems allocate 5 % for the lip. I say, no noteworthy lip, no award and I've taken that position forever. Much as I dislike Greg Bryant's efforts, at least he does occasionally throw in some color to both alba and non-alba lines.

[Australis]

Yes, I was surprised too, but I actually enquired to make sure I knew what the ploidy was and that was the answer I received. Unfortunately I cannot find any information elsewhere online on about erythrostylum 'Royale', so I do not have a second source to confirm it. My plant certainly isn't 4N and it looks and feels like just a regular 2N.

Ocean View Orchids ( https://www.oceanvieworchids.com.au/ ) are a small outfit in Tasmania that operate by mail order only. They source plants from a few different places (such as Royale Orchids and Pakkret).

I totally agree that there should be both positive and negative feedback. As I said before, though, my issue was that it came across as an unfair comparison (this seedling and Terry's standards being very different hybrids). If you'd mentioned a low-quality primary or F2, I'd have had no issue.

[Australis]

I should add that obviously I cannot rule out the possibility that it's 3N or an aneuploid, but the latter seems unlikely.