I bought this at a show a couple of years ago. The tag indicated its clone name
was 'Oka'. In fact - and now I'm going to air my complete ignorance of awards -
what the original tag has on it is:
Dendrobium Blue Sparkle 'Oka' AM/AOS

Its genealogy is:
D. gouldii 50%
D. nindii 37.5%
D. lineale 6.25%
D. schroderianum 6.25%

D. nindii is a beautiful Spatulata Dendrobe from NE Australia & New Guinea -
reputedly very difficult to grow in cultivation.

For those who have Orchid Wiz - I'm certain there is an error in the entry for
Blue Sparkle. The genealogy page has photos for gouldii, lineale &
schroderianum. The photos shown for schroderianum are of D. densiflorum, with
an indication that schroderianum is a synonym for densiflorum.

I have problems with this:

1. I don't believe schroderianum *is* a synonym for densiflorum. Baker & Baker
indicate that it's D. schroderi that has been a synonym for D. densiflorum.

2. However, D. schroderianum is a historical synonym for D. striaenopsis, an
orchid from Section Phalaenanthe of the Dendrobes, which is very similar to D.
bigibbum, D. phalaenopsis, or whatever other taxonomic label is currently
popular. In fact, D. phalaenopsis has at times been regarded as synonymous with
both D. striaenopsis and D. bigibbum. And D. striaenopsis comes from the West
New Guinea/Indonesian region, a similar habitat to the other 3 components of
Blue Sparkle.

3. D. densiflorum belongs to Section Callista of the Dendrobes. There does not
seem to be any densiflorum - or indeed any Section Callista - contribution to
Blue Sparkle.

4. Finally, It is very common to find a small proportion of Section Phalaenthe
species in a predominantly Section Spatulata hybrid - eg striaenopsis in this
case.

So I'm sure the D. schroderianum in the genealogy it what today is known as D.
striaenopsis, *not* D. densiflorum.

Dave Gillingham
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