December 11, Richard Fulford, a fellow Catasetinae fan and judge in the Florida/Caribbean Center, emailed that he had a beautiful plant of Cycnoches Richard Brandon in flower that he wanted to take to judging but the next judging in Florida/Caribbean was the following Saturday, December 17. He asked if I had any suggestions to prolong the flowers in good condition for the week until judging. I suggested that once the flowers were fully expanded, he should place them in a slightly cooler location with low or no light. He followed my suggestion. His observations of the flowers while in the dark are a fascinating study in the operation of the aging process of the flowers. Cycnoches Richard Brandon is a cross of Cycnoches warscewiczii X Cycnoches Jean E. Monnier (C. barthiorum X C. cooperi), made by Fred Clarke and registered by R.F. Orchids in May of this year.
The hybrid, like its component species, is extremely fragrant. Richard observed that after a short time in the dark, the fragrance disappeared. Fragrance indicates that the flower is mature and the pollen (in the male flowers) or the stigma (in the female flowers) is receptive for fertilization, a part of the aging process of the flowers. I think the disappearance of the fragrance means that the aging of the flowers was suspended during the period in the dark. When Richard brought the plant back into light, the fragrance returned. The flowers were granted an Award of Merit of 82 points at the December 17 judging at Florida Caribbean. I congratulate Richard on his well deserved award and on his observation of this process which I have never seen reported before. The pictures of Cycnoches Richard Brandon 'Nicola' that appear with this blog were taken by Richard.
