OrchidKitty wrote:
In 2002, I bought a little C. Little Angel '#1' x B. Digbyana 'Laura'
AM/AOS from Carter and Holmes.
(snip)
Curiously, some of the plant's mature leaves are bifoliate, and some
are unifoliate. ??? I thought that orchids in the Cattleya family were
supposed to be either one or the other. Is this a sign that I have a
defective or confused plant?

Rhyncholaelia (Brassavola) digbyana is unifoliate, IIRC. Cattleya
Little Angel is C. Obrieniana x C. loddigesii (bifoliate). C.
Obrieniana is C. dolosa (bifoliate) x C. loddigesii.

So, your plant has both unifoliate and bifoliate species in its
background. Immature pseudobulbs of bifoliate species may also be
unifoliate, and lack of light could be reducing the number of leaves.

I had planned on selling two of the divisions at an OS sale, but
thought I'd better first find out if I might be unloading dud plants on
unsuspecting buyers, which I don't want to do. Thanks for any help you
can provide.

R. digbyana wants very high light and in in nature experiences a
prolonged dry period. Most growers keep it mounted or in a basket.
Cattleya dolosa and C. loddigesii would also do well mounted in fairly
bright light. It may be that your plant just needs more light (try
outdoors in almost full sun in summer), but the lack of variation in
moisture levels might also inhibit flowering. Perhaps not the best
candidate for semi-hydroponic.


Nick