Renee and Marvin Gerber1

Hybridizing with Brassavola nodosa

WHO COULD resist an orchid that blooms three times a year, grows vigorously, forgives your mistakes and has spotted, large-lipped flowers that smell great? Not us! That's why we enjoy growing hybrids of Brassavola nodosa and Brassavola tuberculata (perrinii). Often touted as the ideal orchids for beginners, Brassavola nodosa hybrids are popular among serious amateurs and commercial hybridizers alike and not just because they are easy to grow. These Brassavola offspring bring to the cattleyas unique qualities of color and shape that are unmatched in other breeding lines today. To understand these colorful and unusual hybrids, consider the most commonly used parent, Brassavola nodosa. It was originally described by Linnaeus as Epidendrum nodosum. At various times, it was classified as a Cymbidium and a Bletia before Dr. John Lindley transferred it to Brassavola in 1831. It is found over a wide range of the Western Hemisphere, from Mexico and the West Indies through Central America to Venezuela, Peru and much of tropical South America. It grows epiphytically on mangroves and even on cactuses from sea level to elevations of 3,000 feet. The plants have narrow, hard leaves with a central lengthwise groove. These leaves vary in size from 1/8- to inch in width and from 3 - to more than 12 inches in length. The flowers are borne on an erect inflorescence which arises from the leaf axil as the new growth matures. Each inflorescence can carry up to seven or eight flowers, which can be as large as nearly 6" (15 cm) across. The flowers have very narrow sepals and petals (1/8 inch or approximately 0.4 cm) and a lip that starts out tubular and opens wide, producing a heart-shaped terminal area as large as 2" (5 cm) across. The sepals and petals are pale green to off-white. The lip is usually pure white, often with fine dark spotting in the throat. The potent nighttime fragrance earns Brassavola nodosa the nickname Lady of the Night. Although plants can flower any time of the year, the most common blooming months are from May through September.
Brassocattleya Hippodamia Robert, AM/AOS (B. nodosa x C. aclandiae) is one of the earliest nodosa hybrids, registered in 1908. This cultivar resulted from a remake of the cross. It was grown by R. F. Orchids and photographed by Bob Smith.

In its hybrids, Brassavola nodosa is dominant in transmission of its shape but recessive

in its color transmission. Its progeny almost always take the color of the other parent. Despite this, Brassavola nodosa provides its "children" with spotting and other unusual markings on the lip. These originate as the fine spotting in the proximal portion of the Brassavola nodosa lip but are magnified considerably in the progeny. It is customary to use Brassavola nodosa as the pollen parent to achieve the best results when it is used in hybridizing. Culture of Brassavola nodosa and its hybrids is very simple. The plants come from areas that experience extreme wet and dry seasons. Therefore, they normally rest during the dry season and grow vigorously during the rainy season. They will grow and bloom constantly under Cattleya light conditions and a temperature range of 60-95F We are able to keep our Brassavola nodosa hybrids growing and blooming for approximately 11 months out of the year in Houston, Texas. We water every 5-10 days, depending on light and temperature conditions, and we fertilize with a weak (about 1/4 strength) fertilizer solution every watering. We rotate our fertilizer between a balanced 20-20-20, a bloom booster and an organic (such as fish emulsion), using 20-20-20 at least half the time and the others more often during the prime growing season. We are now growing in a mix of four parts charcoal, four parts perlite and one part commercial peat, such as Metro-mix or Pro-mix. We grow in plastic pots, which the Brassavola nodosa hybrids seem to like very much. The early hybrids of Brassavola nodosa were registered during the first decade of this century. One of these hybrids, Brassocattleya Hippodamia (B. nodosa X C. aclandiae) might hold the all-time record for interval between registration of a hybrid (1908) and its first quality award from the American Orchid Society (for 'Catherine Stephens', which won a Highly Commended Certificate of 78 points in 1984). Few hybrids were registered from 1908 until 1941, when Hawaiian hybridizers started using Brassavola nodosa as a parent and registering its crosses. Brassocattleya Nanipuakea (B. nodosa x C. Hardyana) was registered in 1941 by Hirose Orchid Nursery of Honolulu. That same nursery registered Brassanthe (Brassocattleya) Maikai (B. nodosa x Gur. (C. ) bowringiana) in 1944. The first truly successful Brassavola nodosa hybrid, in terms of award recognition as well as general acceptance by growers, was Brassocattleya Binosa (B. nodosa x C. bicolor), registered in 1950 by another Hawaiian grower, Richard Tanaka of Hilo. Brassocattleya Binosa (B. nodosa x Brassocattleya Binosa has C. bicolor) is one of the first received eight AOS quality successful Brassavola nodosa awards (two Awards of Merit and hybrids. This is Bc. Binosa Wabash six Highly Commended Valley AM/AOS (85pts.), grown by Certificates). Although we have Louis J. Corna, Dallas TX. never seen an official survey, we feel certain that Brassocattleya Binosa would be among the top 10 orchid hybrids in terms of the number of greenhouses in which a clone of this classic Brassavola nodosa hybrid is found. Brassocattleya Binosa, with its

apple green sepals and petals, its lip brightly spotted, dotted and splashed with purple and its head of up to 10 flowers, puts on quite a show, usually blooming at least twice a year when a plant is mature with 10-12 pseudobulbs. Other noteworthy hybrids of that period include Encyvola Phoenix (B. nodosa x E. phoenicea), Brassocattleya Morning Glory (B. nodosa x C. purpurata) and Brassocattleya Charles J. Fay (B. nodosa X C. crispa). Hybridizing with Brassavola nodosa increased substantially in the 1960s, with almost 40 hybrids registered. The best-known hybrid of the '60s was Brassocattleya Star Ruby (B. nodosa x C. Batalinii), registered in 1965 by the late W. W. Goodale Moir of Honolulu, one of the most imaginative, innovative and prolific hybridizers of all time. Brassocattleya Star Ruby, with very dark brown sepals and petals and bright red-purple lip, has received two AMs and one HCC from the AOS and is very popular and widely grown. Other noteworthy Brassavola nodosa hybrids of the '60s include Brassocattleya Nodata (B. nodosa X C. guttata), Brassocattleya Richard Larkin (C . Portia x B. nodosa), Brassocattleya Cindosa (B. nodosa x C. cinnabarina) and Brassocattleya Richard Mueller (B. nodosa X C. milleri). As you can see, most of the hybrids of Brassavola nodosa registered through 1970 were primary or near-primary hybrids, crossing a Cattleya or Laelia species or simple hybrid with Brassavola nodosa. Starting in 1972, more complex hybrids were crossed with Brassavola nodosa and the resulting progeny were far superior to most of the early Brassavola nodosa hybrids. In 1972, Brassocattleya Enigma Variations (B. nodosa x C. Lee Langford) was registered by Fort Caroline Orchids of Jacksonville, Florida, one of the commercial orchid nurseries to see the potential of Brassavola nodosa in hybridizing and use it in a number of crosses. Two years later, Rhynchobrassoleya Gohl Lee (Rlc. Golden The floriferous qualities of B. nodosa are seen in Slippers x B. nodosa) Brassanthe Maikai Mayumi, CCM/AOS was registered by Fred (84pts), grown by Wayne Eyles, Ontario A. Stewart, Inc. of San Canada. The other parent is the multifloral Gabriel, California, one Guarianthe (Cattleya) bowringiana. of the leading commercial nurseries in Brassavola nodosa hybridizing. The pure yellow-gold flowers with the Brassavola nodosa-like lip of the cultivar 'Golden Doll' make this an outstanding example of a Brassavola nodosa hybrid. Also in 1974, Brassocattleya Naples Night (B. nodosa x C. Zada Fields) was registered by Voo Doo Orchids of Naples, Florida. This has proven to be another outstanding Brassavola nodosa hybrid, with large flowers (to 5" or approximately 12.5cm across), relatively wide sepals and petals and a truly incredible lip. The lip on Brassocattleya Naples Night Remar, HCC/AOS measured almost 2 inches (6.2 cm) when its award was granted. This cultivar displays a pattern of myriad spots, dots and splashes of purple, yellow and white. Voo Doo Nursery, with Claude Timmons

doing most of the early hybridizing, along with its successor firm at the same location in Naples, Tiki Tropical Gardens, with Bill Starr making the crosses, made dozens of Brassavola nodosa hybrids. Their betterknown crosses include Brassocatanthe Magic (C. Fiery x Bsn. Bill Worsley [B. nodosa x Gur (C.) aurantiaca]), BrassoepidenOne of the more promising recent hybrids drum Pseudosa (B. nodosa x of B. nodosa is Brassocatanthe Roman Epi. pseudepidendrum), Holiday (Ctt. Chocolate Drop x B. nodosa), Brassocatanthe Merry (C. represented by the cultivar John Kelly, Antonica Fredrick x Bsn. HCC/AOS (78pts.), grown by Joyce Kelly Bill Worsley), and photographed by Bob Smith. Brassocatanthe Royal Harbor (C. Ronselensis X Bsn. Maikai) and Rhynchavolarum Janette Reder (Bepi. Pseudosa X Rl. glauca). The most awarded Brassavola nodosa hybrid of all time is Brassocattleya Keowee (C. Lorraine Shirai x B. nodosa), which was registered in 1975 by Carter and Holmes of Newberry, South Carolina. The cross was originated by Earl J. Small Orchids, Inc. of Pinellas Park, Florida, using the highly awarded Cattleya (Laeliocattleya) Lorraine Shirai as the pod parent. The progeny of this yellow with red lip crossed with Brassavola nodosa mostly bloomed with flowers of a light to bright yellow base color on all floral segments and very large, varied and unusual lips. The best-known, Brassocattleya Keowee 'Mendenhall', AM/AOS, has heavy red markings almost covering the large lip. The cultivar 'Remar', AM/AOS has reddish brown spotting over the distal half of the lip. The latter cultivar had 10 flowers measuring more than 7" (18 cm) across when it was granted its award in August of 1987! Brassocattleya Keowee has now received 10 AOS quality awards, including five AMs, four HCCs and one AQ (Award of Quality). More recently, a number of hybrids have been made using one parent which is half Brassavola nodosa. The dominance of Brassavola nodosa in influencing growth habit and flower shape continues in these second-generation hybrids. Its recessiveness Brassoepidendrum Pseudosa Hutch, in influencing color also AM/AOS (83pts.) continues. In addition to This unusual primary hybrid combines the previously mentioned Brassavola nodosa with the strikingly bizarre Brassocatanthe Merry, Epidendrum pseudepidendrum . Brassocatanthe Magic,

Rhynchobrassoleya Gohl Lee Golden Doll (Rlc. Golden Slippers x B.nodosa) grown by Marvin & Rene Gerber and photographed by Marvin Gerber.

Rhynchavolarum (Brassoepidendrum) Janette Reder Remar, HCC/AOS (77pts.) (Bepi. Pseudosa x Rl. glauca) grown by Marvin & Rene Gerber; photographed by Bill Sauthoff.

Brassocatanthe Royal Harbor and Rhynchavolarum Janette Reder,second-generation Brassavola nodosa hybrids include Guarvolcia (Vaughnara) Fairy Tales (Eyv. Phoenix x Gur. (C. ) aurantiaca). Brassanthe Maiaca (Bsn. Maikai x Gur. aurantiaca), Brassocattleya Osceola (Bc. Nodata x C. bicolor], and Rhynchobrassoleya Busy Brassocattleya (Brassolaelia) Morning Bee (Rcv. Jimminey Cricket [B. nodosa x Rlc. Glory Starbek, JC/AOS Digbyana] x C. forbesii). Cattleya (Laelia) purpurata is combined The newest trend in with B. nodosa to create this beautiful Brassavola nodosa hybrid, which was registered in 1958 and hybridizing is the use of the has won two awards from the American highly recognized and very Orchid Society. popular Brassocattleya Binosa as a parent. From 1979 through 1986, 28 hybrids using Brassocattleya Binosa were registered. Some of the progeny include Brassocattleya Cute Aza Bug ( x C. Brabantiae), Brassocattleya Hunabu Legend ( x C. aclandiae), Brassocattleya Memoria Vida Lee ( x C. Brazilian Treasure), Stellamizutaara Hawaiian Gem (x Ctna. Keith Roth) and Brassocattleya (Potinara) Gypsy Red (x C. Vallezac). New Brassavola nodosa hybrids are being made and registered all the time and true "Brassavola nodosa nuts" should watch hybridizers' listings for the latest crosses being offered. Some new crosses with good potential for high-quality flowers include Brassocatanthe Roman Holiday (Ctt. Chocolate Drop x B. nodosa), Rhynchobrassoleya Natchez Belle (Rlc. Toshie Aoki x Bc. Binosa) and (C. Bill's Red X B. nodosa). Although the hybrids of Brassavola nodosa far outnumber other true Brassavola hybrids, there have been some very fine hybrids made with other brassavolas, especially Brassavola tuberculata (perrinii). This species is very similar to Brassavola Rhynchovola (Brassavola) Jimminey Cricket is nodosa in growth habit an unusual intrageneric cross utilizing B. nodosa but the plants of and the classic frilly lipped Rhyncholaelia Brassavola tuberculata digbyana. It was registered by Fred A. Stewart, are generally larger than Inc. of San Gabriel, CA in 1974. This specimen those of Brassavola was grown by Dragonstone Orchids. nodosa and the individual flowers of Brassavola tuberculata are smaller but with more flowers per inflorescence (up to 17 or 18). Brassavola tuberculata

Brassocattleya (Brassolaeliocattleya) Keowee (C. Lorraine Shirai x B. nodosa) is the most-awarded offspring of Brassavola nodosa, having now won 10 AOS quality awards. Shown above is the stunning cultivar Hanabu, AM/AOS (84pts.), which was grown by Huan Bui Orchids and photographed by Bob Smith. generally will bloom only one time per year whereas Brassavola nodosa blooms as each growth matures, usually two or three times per year. Rhynchobrassoleya Everything Nice (Rlc. Memoria Helen Brown x B. tuberculata) is, up until now, the most outstanding progeny of Brassavola perrinii. This grex has received seven AOS awards, including two AMs and five HCCs. A new hybrid of Brassavola tuberculata, Rhynchobrassoleya Lahaina Novelty (B. perrinii x Rlc. Waikiki Gold), has received one HCC already and we are sure that more recognition will follow. Another Brassavola species, Brassavola cordata (=subulifolia), is one parent of Brassavola Little Stars, with Brassavola nodosa being the other parent. This is a charming flower, looking like a smaller Brassavola tuberculata, with heads of 10-15 flowers. The plants are vigorous growers and are free-blooming. There is no denying the classic beauty of a large, full purple or white Cattleya hybrid. But if your taste runs a little more toward the unusual or the whimsical and you like flowers that are different, then you will love the hybrids of Brassavola nodosa and its relatives. They are free-flowering and very rewarding, making few demands on the grower. Spice up your collection with some of these interesting orchids.

Clockwise from the upper left: 1. Brassocattleya Memoria Vida Lee Limelight, AM/AOS (Bc. Binosa x C. Brazilian Treasure) Grower: Mr. & Mrs. Lionel Fernandez-Capella, photographer: Mei-Ling Melndez. 2. Brassocattleya Nodata Maili, HCC/AOS (78pts.) (B. nodosa x C. guttata) Grower: John Robsan. 3. Brassocattleya Star Ruby Kirsch, AM/AOS (82pts.) (B. nodosa x Bc. Batalinii) Grower: Jane Perry. 4. Brassocattleya (Brassolaeliocattleya) Naples Night Cariads Dusk, AM/AOS (80pts) (B. nodosa x C. Zada Fields) Grower: Marianne R. Matthews)

1. 5003 South Braeswood Boulevard, Texas 77096.