#cycnodes

Cycnodes Wine Delight

Cycnodes Jumbo Puff 'Taiyoung No. 1' SM/TOGA

Cycnodes Wine Delight 'JEM' FCC/AOS

Cycnodes Wine Delight is a primary hybrid between Cycnoches lehmannii and Mormodes sinuata. It inherits better flower shape from Cycnoches, and a beautiful red colour from Mormodes. The fragrance, very artificial and that evoques red liquorice with a spiced touch, is also heavily influenced by Cycnoches.

It’s like a mini-Christmas every week

May 21, 2014: Another order from The Orchid Works came in today and I couldn’t help but feel like it’s a mini-Christmas every time. Partly because we never know which plants in our order actually gets sent until they arrive and whether we get happy or sad plants. Here’s the haul this week.

Milt. spectabilis ‘Royalea’ AM/AOS x Seminole Sand ‘Angel’. This plant looks amazing healthy!

The flowers…

This is my most consistent bloomer, bar none. Cycnodes is called a "nothogenus" because it indicates that this orchid in question is an intergeneric hybrid. What that means is that it is a cross between two closely aligned, but different, genera. This is quite common in the orchid kingdom, but less so among other flowers. For instance, I'm pretty sure you can't cross a rose with a strawberry even though they are both in subfamily Rosoideae. Anyway. This one, Cycnodes Wine Delight 'Jem' is a cross between Cycnoches lehmannii and Mormodes sinuata. Do you see what they did there? Cycnoches and Mormodes. Cycnoches is a nice looking genus, they are collectively known as the "swan orchids" because some fanciful Victorian believed the flowers looked like nodding or flying swans. 

Mormodes is another very interesting genus. Orchids are, far and away, androgynous as far as flower anatomy is concerned. With very few exceptions, there are no male and female flowers; each flower can be fertilized and produce seed, with many orchid species being self-fertile. In other words, all you have to do is knock the pollinia onto the stigma and boom. Mormodes is not like that. Each plant, given maximum health and perfect growing conditions, will grow female and male flowers at different times. This property was apparently passed on to Cycnodes, at least on occasion, because I got two sets of flowers last year. The female flowers are the ones you see above; big, red, showy, intensely fragrant (sort of like cherry syrup). The male flowers, on the other hand, were like all men: wan, listless, musky, pale, and unimpressive. They also produced so much sap they could hardly even open on their own. I had to use a toothpick to prize the petals apart at the tips. Who knew even male flowers could be unctuous.

For any person who doesn't think they could be an orchid grower because they're "too hard," I would recommend giving Cycnodes a shot. As long as they are potted in well-draining media, they almost can't be overwatered during growing season. If I let even a single day go by without drenching the thing I'd start to see the pseudobulbs start to shrivel. Maxillarias are like that too but that's another story. The best part about Cycnodes is that it requires two distinct seasons. After it blooms and the leaves fall off, you just stop watering it entirely and ignore it. It shrivels up, looks dreadful, many of the roots will die back, you feel a little bad for it. But then, when it starts getting warmer and sunnier, it'll poke out a new leaf tip, and then you just start soaking the thing and it will be like it can't grow too many new roots. 

Plus I like anything with super fragrant flowers. The flowers aren't even completely open yet, which means that the scent hasn't come anywhere near reaching its peak, and I can stand at the top of the stairs and their cherry soda fragrance is all I can smell. The picture doesn't even really capture how deep red the flowers are, and they're very thick and waxy. Just gorgeous.