Online I can find that this hybrid was originated by Orchid Center (I couldn’t find information about this company) but was registered in 1990 by A. Boteilho as (Cattleya Wayndora x Rlc. Toshie Aoki). I am pretty sure the cross was made in Hawaii. Here is a current flower from my plant, which is likely a mericlone, rather than a division. The natural horizontal width is 12.5 cm on my second blooming of the plant.
The HOS with the AM award indicates it was given by the Honolulu Orchid Society, but I don’t know the date of the award. Their website notes that HOS was founded in 1939 and began judging and awards in 1951. This was necessitated by the difficulty of shipping plants to the US mainland for judging. HOS awards do not show in the American Orchids Society (AOS) database OrchidPro. Many outstanding Cattleya group hybrids have been created in Hawaii and some cultivars and hybrids may only have been awarded by HOS, but I do not know how to access their awards archive.
The pod parent of Ann Cleo, Cattleya Wayndora, was created and registered by the Hawaiian orchid grower Ernest Iwanaga in 1962 as (Terry Wayne x Fedora). Here is a link to the only online tiny picture I can find, which is of a Wayndora cultivar also named ‘Lea’. The picture is noted as taken by Michael Blietz of Exotic Orchids in Maui, Hawaii.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/iof-grexes3/17730.jpg
As an older hybrid, Wayndora contains only 6 species, with warscewiczii (44%) and dowiana (28%) most prominent. It is difficult for the yellow of dowiana to display in most of its crosses. Wayndora has been an important breeding plant and, although never awarded by AOS, was probably awarded by HOS.
Rlc. Toshie Aoki, the pollen parent of Ann Cleo, was also created in Hawaii by Miyamoto and registered by A. Tharp in 1980 as (Rlc Faye Miyamoto x Rlc Waianae Flare). This famous hybrid has received about 15 AOS awards to 14 different cultivars and there may be HOS awards. Several recent Slippertalk posts discuss Toshie Aoki ‘Pizazz’:
https://www.slippertalk.com/threads/rlc-toshie-aoki-pizazz-披萨-am-aos.54100/
https://www.slippertalk.com/threads/rlc-toshie-aoki-‘pizzaz’.51523/
Toshie Aoki has been frequently used as a parent and is a complex hybrid comprising 18 species, with dowiana (58%) and warscewiczii (8%) being most prominent. The yellow was able to come through in Toshie Aoki because of a greater proportion of dowiana, some genetic good fortune, and the addition of some rex, tenebrosa, and xanthina.
Rlc Ann Cleo has 5 cultivars awarded by the AOS, with only ‘Callyn’ HCC/AOS (2007) having yellow coloration similar to ‘Lea’. ‘Callyn’ had no pincelada and had solid yellow coloration of the proximal labellum instead of the eyes of ‘Lea’. The yellow in Ann Cleo ‘Lea’ (and ‘Callyn’) is probably less intense than Toshie Aoki because of dilution from Wayndora. However, Wayndora may give potential for larger flowers with Ann Cleo but I will need a larger, multi-growth plant to test this possibility.
The HOS with the AM award indicates it was given by the Honolulu Orchid Society, but I don’t know the date of the award. Their website notes that HOS was founded in 1939 and began judging and awards in 1951. This was necessitated by the difficulty of shipping plants to the US mainland for judging. HOS awards do not show in the American Orchids Society (AOS) database OrchidPro. Many outstanding Cattleya group hybrids have been created in Hawaii and some cultivars and hybrids may only have been awarded by HOS, but I do not know how to access their awards archive.
The pod parent of Ann Cleo, Cattleya Wayndora, was created and registered by the Hawaiian orchid grower Ernest Iwanaga in 1962 as (Terry Wayne x Fedora). Here is a link to the only online tiny picture I can find, which is of a Wayndora cultivar also named ‘Lea’. The picture is noted as taken by Michael Blietz of Exotic Orchids in Maui, Hawaii.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/iof-grexes3/17730.jpg
As an older hybrid, Wayndora contains only 6 species, with warscewiczii (44%) and dowiana (28%) most prominent. It is difficult for the yellow of dowiana to display in most of its crosses. Wayndora has been an important breeding plant and, although never awarded by AOS, was probably awarded by HOS.
Rlc. Toshie Aoki, the pollen parent of Ann Cleo, was also created in Hawaii by Miyamoto and registered by A. Tharp in 1980 as (Rlc Faye Miyamoto x Rlc Waianae Flare). This famous hybrid has received about 15 AOS awards to 14 different cultivars and there may be HOS awards. Several recent Slippertalk posts discuss Toshie Aoki ‘Pizazz’:
https://www.slippertalk.com/threads/rlc-toshie-aoki-pizazz-披萨-am-aos.54100/
https://www.slippertalk.com/threads/rlc-toshie-aoki-‘pizzaz’.51523/
Toshie Aoki has been frequently used as a parent and is a complex hybrid comprising 18 species, with dowiana (58%) and warscewiczii (8%) being most prominent. The yellow was able to come through in Toshie Aoki because of a greater proportion of dowiana, some genetic good fortune, and the addition of some rex, tenebrosa, and xanthina.
Rlc Ann Cleo has 5 cultivars awarded by the AOS, with only ‘Callyn’ HCC/AOS (2007) having yellow coloration similar to ‘Lea’. ‘Callyn’ had no pincelada and had solid yellow coloration of the proximal labellum instead of the eyes of ‘Lea’. The yellow in Ann Cleo ‘Lea’ (and ‘Callyn’) is probably less intense than Toshie Aoki because of dilution from Wayndora. However, Wayndora may give potential for larger flowers with Ann Cleo but I will need a larger, multi-growth plant to test this possibility.
