Happy New Year - and now for something completely different as Monty Python would say

Although my special interest is the Catasetinae, among other species that are favorites is Cattleya walkeriana. So I was particularly interested in an article published in the Boletin CAOB (=Coordenadoria das Associacoes Orquidofilas do Brasil) No. 71, July-September 2008, 38-43 titled Cattleya walkeriana trilabelo by Alcides Cavasini Filho. I had noticed at least two other Cattleya species on Brazilian sales lists that had been labeled as "trilabelo" before I saw this article. I had never seen pictures of them so I just assumed they were heavily peloric forms such as those of Cattleya intermedia aquinii. It was especially amazing to see this article and its pictures (taken by Sr. Cavasini) of a Cattleya walkeriana which indeed possessed three complete lips instead of the normal two petals and one lip.

To the right is a picture taken of the 2009 blooming of the Cattleya walkeriana trilabelo 'Cavasini' showing the three completely formed lips and no petals.
Sr. Cavasini has given me permission to translate and publish his article in addition to the fine photographs which accompany it. I decided to publish a summary of the article and two of the pictures from him of this fascinating clone. Sr. Cavasini lives in Orlandia and his brother Andre Luis lives nearby in Guara, both in Sao Paulo state. The original plant was found near Catalao, Goias which is the Brazilian state at the heart of the Cattleya walkeriana habitat.

The article begins with a short history of the species, its discovery during a trip to Brazil 1817-1819 by Johann Emanuel Pohl and its rediscovery and subsequent publication in 1843 by George Gardner in the London Journal of Botany. The relationship to Cattleya bulbosa Lindley and Cattleya princeps Barbosa Rodrigues is explained with information on the habitat, plant, flowers and detailed instructions on the cultivation of Cattleya walkeriana. The history of the discovery of the trilabelo clone in 2002 by Sr. Figueroa Pires is related and the subsequent acquisition of the clone and its divisions in 2007 by Sr. Cavasini, his brother and brother-in-law Celio Dias Borges. They agreed to name the clone 'Cavasini'. The pictures which accompany the article were take on the second flowering of the clone in 2007. When I asked for permission for this blog, he sent me the picture above of the 2009 blooming. If anyone is interested in the complete translation, you may email me and I will send it to you with some additional pictures.

To the right is a picture from the article which shows one of the 2007 flowers forced open to show a better view of the three lips and the somewhat anomolous form of the column.

Cattleya walkeriana has a huge following and the ACW (Associacao Cattley walkeriana) and its affiliate in Japan, ACW Japan, hold shows for the species wth a special judging system developed by the ACW. We fans of the species are eagerly awaiting the publication of the new book by Lou C. Menezes, the Brazilian expert on the species. I understand the book should be published in mid-2010.