This is an unusual hybrid and not one that a breeder would normally plan. In my glasshouse Coelogyne flexuosa has always been a cute little orchid with a quaint little spray of upright, ever present white flowers. Its second notable feature was that it always seemed to carry several pollinated pods.  I made one hybrid with it using Coelogyne bilamellata (Coelogyne Kirribilli Noela) but simply because Coelogyne speciosa was in flower at the same time I fertilized the two on 24^th December 2008. While the pod developed normally and the seed was flasked on 13^th October 2009, the protocorms were weak developers and those that were deflasked on 10^th February 2011 continued their weak growth. It wasn’t until June 2019 that the first seedling flowered (over 10 years later!)

The hybrid has a large 10 cm conical psuedobulb similar to Coelogyne flexuosa. Other maternal traits to carry through include the very upright spray of three to four almost simultaneously flowers on a zig-zag flower stem.

In all other aspects, this hybrid flower resembles a smaller version (4cm) of Coelogyne speciosa. The white (and yellow throat spot of Coelogyne flexuosa has been totally dominated by the normal brown and green colours of Coelogyne speciosa.

I have named this hybrid after my son’s step-son.

Rating: ♦♦♦

Registration: Registration with the RHS as Coelogyne Kirribilli Ezekiel completed June 2019. It has been named after Nigel's step-son Ezekiel.

Varieties: None known.

Hybrids: None registered

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