Oncostele Catatante x Oncidium Barossa Delight

 Today's spotlight is focused on a beauty of an orchid, one that is currently in bloom:

Oncostele Catatante x Oncidium Barossa Delight

This orchid was purchased on September 14, 2024 from a vendor at the Triangle Orchid Show in Raleigh North Carolina.  When I purchased it, it was covered in buds, with blooming imminent.

This showy orchid currently has 4 flower spikes, absolutely covered in beautiful blooms.  Each spike is roughly two feet tall from the base of the spike, with an overall diameter of the leaves at approximately a foot around.  This particular orchid is not a fragrant one but what it lacks in fragrance is made up by its beautiful flowers.

Spotlight on the blooms

After purchase, full of buds

The Oncostele Catatante x Oncidium Barossa Delight is a Oncostele hybrid that was registered with the Royal Horticultural Society by Okika in 2010.  The three species ancestors and their influences for this orchid are:

Oncidium fuscatum (25.0%)
Oncidium alexandrae (16.4306640625%)
Oncidium schroederianum (12.5%)

It is a fairly compact hybrid that produces sprays of flowers that are anywhere between 12 inches and 16" inches in height with flowers between 1.5 inches to 2 inches in diameter.  Blooms can last up to two months and in the right conditions, can bloom twice in a year.

This orchid is an epiphytic, meaning they grow on other plants rather than in soil. These orchids grow in trees, clinging to branches with their roots.  Since its purchase, I have not transplanted the orchid into a new pot.  Once the flowers finish their cycle, I will inspect the roots and repot as needed.

When researching the history of this orchid, I was unable to find out who Okika is/was or where this hybrid species originated from.  I am still very much a novice when it comes to how hybrid orchids are made, but I wholly look forward to watching this orchid bloom and grow!

Oncostele Catatante x Oncidium Barossa Delight
Family Tree