Two crosses involving Dendrobium stratiotes ‘D200-1’ have performed well as flowering potted plants, and therefore the repeat crosses are being released for trial as seed-propagated potted plant cultivars. These crosses are D. Caesar (D. stratiotes ‘D200-1’ x D. phalaenopsis var. compactum ‘D291’) and D. Samarai (D. stratiotes ‘D200-1’ x D. antennatum ‘K741-13’).

Dendrobium Caesar was registered decades ago by Nagrok as a cross between D. phalaenopsis and D. stratiotes. Most offspring from various crosses involving these two species are tall and show a high incidence of bud drop. In order to reduce the height of D. Caesar, we crossed D. stratiotes ‘D200-1’ with pseudobulbs 32 inches tall and D. phalaenopsis var. compactum ‘D291’ with pseudobulbs only 3 inches tall. The cross was made in October 1983, germinated in January 1984, compotted in August 1984, transplanted into 2-inch pots in November 1984, and repotted into 5-inch pots in May 1985. Offspring began to flower in January 1986, only two years after germination. Petals and sepals are Purple-violet (RHS Colour Chart 80B) edged with white, and the lip is darker Purple-violet (RHSCC 80A).  Although petals and sepals are narrow, the flowers are fairly large, measuring about 3 inches in height.

Within the first year of flower production, all plants were considered saleable with at least two sprays produced within the same month (Table 1). Several plants were considered saleable more than once in a year. Flower yield increased during the second year of production. Flowers were obtained throughout the year; however, prodution was greater during July to December than from January to June. Plant height averaged 16.2 inches in December 1986, and 25.9 inches in December 1987. Surprisingly, the bud drop percentage was only 6.8% compared to 40.2 for another D. Caesar cross (D. stratiotes ‘D200-1’ x D. phalaenopsis ‘Mauna Loa’). The characteristics of D. Caesar UH921, are as follows:

Natural spread of flowers – height (inches)

3.0 ± 0.4

Natural spread of flowers – across (inches)

2.2 ± 0.2

Pedicel length (inches)

1.2 ± 0.1

Scape length (inches)

4.9 ± 1.0

Spray length (inches)

10.7 ± 2.0

Number of flowers per spray

8.4 ± 0.4

Leaf length (inches)

4.2 ± 0.4

Leaf width (inches)

1.6 ± 0.2

Plant height (inches) in December 1987

25.9 ± 4.8

Percent bud drop

6.8

Month

1986

1987

No. sprays

No. saleable plants*

No. sprays

No. saleable plants*

Jan

10

3

11

3

Feb

19

5

8

1

Mar

5

2

17

4

Apr

7

0

11

4

May

7

2

0

0

Jun

15

3

15

3

Jul

4

1

24

7

Aug

19

7

17

5

Sep

40

10

20

3

Oct

9

2

53

14

Nov

37

8

35

10

Dec

13

4

54

12

TOTAL

185

41

265

66