The pictures of the parent flowers are not the real parents but examples of each parent. The original Coelogyne speciosa pod parent had a particularly dark lip. Coelogyne usitana opens with a very very dark lip which fades to a rich rusty colour as the flower ages.

The Lyme Bay seedlings pictured above were made by a fellow Coelogyne addict, Don Chesher. He gave me a flask of his remake and these have now flowered as the first examples in Australia.

Many pictures from the web of Coelogyne Lyme Bay show the sepals and petals as having a green tint. However, they all show the spectacular dark lip as seen above.

This plant flowers for 12 months of the year (very unusual for any orchid). You will note in the picture above that each inflorescence keeps extending with one or two flowers at a time.

Negatives: The 'droopy' nature hides the beauty of the flower unless it is grown in a hanging pot/basket or raised on a pedestal.

Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦ This is a spectacular orchid

Registered: 2006 by Burnham Nurseries UK

1. Coelogyne Liberty Rainforest Spice (Ch Swoboda 2019) using Coelogyne xyrekes as the pollen parent

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