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Every month, we shall profile one plant (species or hybrid) and its contribution. These profiles shall stay on our web site for an entire month. In this profile, we shall discuss the plant, its qualities and faults, the hybrids made with it, the people making these hybrids, some of the better progeny, etc.
If there is any plant/topic that you would like to see discussed, please advise. If you have any suggestions for plant of the month, tell us: orchids@bedfordorchids.com .
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Very few plants have played as important a role in novelty breeding as the plant to be discussed this month. It is a primary hybrid between two species, one of which is rarely used in novelty breeding. The plant in question has been used very sparingly in the first generation, although many of its progeny are very well known and are considered landmarks in novelty breeding. Although there are less than 100 first-generation hybrids, there are almost 1,500 second- and third-generation hybrids and more are being made every day.
What do Dtps. Autumn Sun, Phal. Brother Elizabeth, Phal. Brother Purple, Dtps. King Shiang’s Rose, Phal. Lin Jessica, Phal. Moonmist, Phal. Super Stupid and Phal. Taida Lawrence have in common? The answer is not their colour nor their country of origin but rather their common ancestor, Phalaenopsis Spica.
Phalaenopsis Spica is a hybrid between Phal. fasciata and Phal. lueddemanniana made by Lee Kuhn and registered in 1969. To date, four cultivars of this grex have been awarded:
 | ‘Cherokee’ received an AM of 82 points for Gene Crocker in 1969 with what seems to be 2 flowers on one mature inflorescence and buds on a second immature inflorescence. The flowers were cream with burgundy horizontal bars. |
| Phal. Yardstick ‘Florence’ received an AM of 82 points for Bill Lockhart in 1969. The flowers were apple-green, symmetrically barred with chestnut-brown. It was actually Phal. Spica but… (Don’t get me started!) |
| ‘Jack’s Gift’ received a CCM of 85 points for Muses’ Tropic 1 Orchids in 1989 with approximately 400 flowers and buds on 148 inflorescences. |
| ‘Gutter’ received an HCC of 79 points for Breckinridge Orchids in 1994 with 87 flowers and buds on 34 inflorescences. The flowers were greenish yellow heavily barred red brown. |
Remember that, although it was not that long ago, the early ’70s were really the beginning of breeding for colour and colour was what Phal. Spica had plenty of. One of the earliest hybrids of Phal. Spica was Phal. Barbara Moler, a hybrid with a large white, Phal. Donnie Brandt. In fact, a lot of novelty breeding in those days was breeding anything with colour to a large white. Both Phal. Spica and Phal. Barbara Moler came about at about the time that meristemming was in its infancy. In addition, Phal. Spica makes keikis fairly readily as does each of its parents. Although these facts do not seem important (except possibly historically), they are probably almost the most important facts in this commentary (at least, in my opinion). Lastly, and possibly the most important, Phal. Spica is exceptionally fertile and seems to pass on this trait to its offspring.
Charles Beard registered Phal. Barbara Moler in 1971. (He probably used pollen from Phal. Spica ‘Florence’, AM/AOS because it belonged to his friend, Bill Lockhart.) On April 12th, 1973, he received an AM of 83 points for his cultivar ‘Gertie’, named for his wife. The creamy yellow flowers were heavily spotted cherry red and were about 3½" wide. The plant was meristemmed almost immediately and, prior to Phal. Deventeriana, it may be the most widely distributed yellow phalaenopsis, at least in North America. It is the parent of almost 250 hybrids. It has been bred to flowers of every colour and the results show the range of possibilities from a single parent. Some of its most famous progeny are the following: Dtps. George Moler (x Dtps. Jason Beard), Phal. Misty Green (x Phal. Bamboo Baby), Phal. Meller Gold (xPhal. Golden Amboin), Phal. Henry Rothman (x Phal. Janice Hall), Phal. Darling Taiwan (x Phal. Liu Tuen-Shen), etc. The two major reasons for the importance of Phal. Barbara Moler are 1) its easy availability and 2) its remarkable fertility. In addition, it was a good parent and did produce colorful hybrids.
Probably the most important first-generation hybrid of Phal. Spica is Phal. Golden Buddha (x Phal. Cher Ann), a cross made by Peter Lista, registered in 1977. In the first generation, more red was visible (usually over yellow) than had previously been seen. Sib crosses were made and continue to this day, selecting the best offspring in each generation, intensifying the colour and improving the shape. Gemstone has several sib crosses available. We’ve also made a sib cross of our own. Some of the better clones available are ‘Raspberry Delight’, AM/AOS, ‘Billy’s Red’, ‘Gemstone #1’ and more recently ‘Ken Peterson’, all of which are readily available – for a fee.
There are probably well over one hundred awards to first-generation hybrids of Phal. Golden Buddha. Some of the better known (in our opinion) are Dtps. Dynamite Stripe (x Dtps. Zuma Ballet), Phal. Desert Dreams (x Phal. Abendrot), Phal. Spirit House (x Phal. Bonita Roja), Phal. Summer Morn (x Phal. Candle Glow), Phal. Golden Gift (x Phal. Deventeriana), Phal. Ai Gold (x Phal. Kathleen Ai), Phal. Fortune Buddha (x Phal. Liu Tuen-Shen), Phal. Red Thrill (x Phal. Mahalo), Phal. Cordova (x Phal. Zuma Garnet), Phal. Zora Amato (x Phal. venosa).
Another important hybrid is Phal Daryl Lockhart (x Phal. Suemid), a hybrid registered by Charles Beard in 1965. Barbara Baldan of Baldan Orchids has a Phal. Daryl Lockhart that is a knockout. She has used it to produce Phal. Baldan’s Kaleidoscope (x Phal. Hausermann’s Candy), Phal. Baldan’s Sunset (x Phal. Paul Tatar) and Phal. Venetian Glass (x Phal. Thelma Groff). Each of these hybrids has several awarded progeny. Barbara continues to use it and some of the offspring are outstanding. In addition, Ramon Melendez of Coqui Nursery bred Phal. Golden Omni (x Phal. Bamboo Baby), with several awarded progeny as well.
Phal. Sonnentau (x Phal. Eva Lou) is also important. The hybrid was registered by W. Elsner in 1977 but was made and remained largely in Europe. Similar in breeding to Phal. Golden Buddha, Phal. Sonnentau has an AM from the RHS but, due to the fact that distribution in North America has been minimal at best, it has never been particularly important in North America.
Once we get past the first- and second-generation hybrids, the influence of Phal. Spica obviously diminishes but we do have to recognize the contribution of that which has gone before. In this case, Phal. Spica, present in the backgound of so many of today’s important novelty hybrids, is almost forgotten today. But, as we saw in 1994, when the clone ‘Gutter’ received an HCC of 79 points, good plants will (should, anyway) always get their due.
The opinions expressed in the plant of the month articles are those of Howard S. Ginsberg and are based on various discussions, observations and research which includes American Orchid Society Awards by James R. Fisher and David A. Bishop (available from the American Orchid Society) as well as the Wildcatt Database (available from the Wildcatt Database Company). The Wildcatt Database may not be perfect but it is far and away better than whatever is in second place.