CSA-Journal-2016-04

There are many others that have garnered
awards, but another new direction in
breeding has taken place. You need to look
no farther than Cymbidium Gladys Whitsell
[Geyersland 1983]. This was a cross
of Cymbidium Fifi and parishii/sanderae.
Where Cymbidium Fifi needed a truck to
take it to a show because of its Cymbidium
madidum growing size,Gladys Whitsell is a
plant that can be transported in a station
wagon. It has received 21 awards and is
still being judged in orchid shows around
the world.
Some of the most exciting work is that
being done on novelty Cymbidiums using
Cymbidium parishii/sanderae. Again, New
Horizons is leading the way. Cymbidium Loly
Cymbidium Devon Parish 'Dark Eyes'
Photo CSA Archive
Moving on to more modern complex
hybrids, if you do the research you find
Cymbidium parishii/sanderae in many
hybrids and some very famous ones at that.
The first example of these famous hybrids
would have to be Cymbidium Lillian
Stewart [Stewart 1955]. This grand dame
has 144 awards to its name. It has 9.4%
parishii in it from the Cymbidium Dryad and
Cymbidium Elfin in its background.
The next example is Cymbidium San Francisco
[Stewart 1956] with 115 awards. It
has 7.3% from Cymbidium Dryad and Cymbidium
Garnet. Some of the show bench
hybrids currently being shown that have
parishii/sanderae in the background are
Cymbidium Hazel Fay [Geyersland 1998]
3.1%, Cymbidium Valley Zenith [Valley
Orchids 1982] 7%, and Cymbidium Valley
Splash [Valley Orchids 1991] 4.7%. Of
course these are complex hybrids that have
many species contributing to their backgrounds.
Cymbidium Gladys Whitsel 'The Charmer'
Photo Wm. Jeff Trimble
Cymbidium parishii 'Mem Emma Menninger' x
Cymbidium Aunty Violet
photo Geroge Hatfield
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