This week’s Orchid of the Week is… Cym. Appleby ‘Royal Surprise’
Parentage: This week’s Orchid of the Week is a cross between Cym. Marcia x Cym. Babylon
Registered: 1956
The reason why it’s our Orchid of the Week:
It’s time warp time for this weeks Orchid of the Week!
Not exactly show bench material, however, another example of just how diverse and spectacular the Cymbidium world can be.
Petal pelorics, and just pelorics in general have been popular with the hobbyist forever. Many are not well shaped, however scream ‘look at me’! And are desireable for that ‘wow’ factor. They are also a little of a rare thing, as most will not clone true to form, so in order to obtain one, a piece of the original plant must be sought. Not an easy thing with demand for these plants always high.
Cym. Appleby has Cym. Alexanderi on both sides in the background (great grandparents) and there are some other very well known plants in the mix too. I haven’t seen any other cultivars of this plant, but I’m not sure a non feathered, non peloric would be too exciting to look at?
‘Royal Surprise’ however, certainly has some appeal!
And because of that, it wouldn’t last a minute on the trading table!
Image credits this week go to a Cymbidium Orchid Facebook post by Paulo Leiria. Comments on this post by a very experienced and successful grower state that the original plant has both feathered and pelorics marking similar to the one in the photo…….but the clones from this plant mostly came out with just peloric petals. So if you are lucky enough to come across one, it’s good to know the difference.
Tracing this plant’s original species ancestors using Orchid Roots, Cym. insigne, Cym. lowianum and Cym. hookerianum are the major species contributors of this plant!