The interesting thing about that flower is that it appears to have normal reproductive parts. In double Hipps and daylilies, the extra petals are stamens and you can typically find blobs of pollen along the edges of some. Often the pistil is missing. But you can collect the pollen and transfer to the pistil of a normal variety pretty easily.
Kipp is right about the reproductive disadvantage, which explains the rarity of both alba and peloric forms of cattleyas and their kin. They breed easily if you have a toothpick, but the pollinators sure get confused.
Bob
On Monday, May 12, 2025 at 03:47:46 AM EDT, Kipp McMichael via pbs <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote:
Jim,
That C. Superbus with 6 petals is beautiful. If the other flowers on that plant have double petals, you might have a trait you could breed with. If that flower is the only one with double petals, it's more likely just an aberration in the development of that one bud.
The double petal habit as seen here obscures the beautiful pattern at the bottom of the flower. To the extent that these patterns are there to influence pollinators, that might be a reason we don't see double petals very often in the wild.
-|<ipp
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