Cattleya skinneri – Guarianthe skinneri Batem.
It is April and Costa Rica’s national flower, the Cattleya skinneri is beginning to bloom again. I am always happy to see its rosy clusters of flowers; it means that spring is here!
 Cattleya skinneri |
Since this is an orchid species, there are several different shapes and colours in its range: the flowers can be from pure white over pale rose to deep magenta and the base of its lip can be yellow, cream or white. Some of the white forms have deep in the throat a rosy to lavender spot, these forms are called “C. skinneri alba oculata”. The usual number of flowers per stem can vary from four to fourteen (Withner). The slender (at the base) stems can grow up to 30 cm tall; this plant needs a dry winter rest.
In Costa Rica, its name is Guaria Morada; in Guatemala it is called Flor de San Sebastian and Candelaria. An interesting story comes from the pages of the venerable publication, “The Orchid Review”:
Whereas the lavender/rose type was introduced to orchidists by G.U. Skinner in 1838, it was only in 1870 that Mr. Benedict Roezl (he of the missing hand – replaced by a hook) found the form C. skinneri alba. He was on his way back from a collecting trip in Guatemala, when he was attacked by a band of outlaws. They eventually allowed him to leave, together with a local priest who had also been taken prisoner by them. The two men walked back to the priest’s village, where Roezl noticed a large Cattleya on the roof of the church, with many snow white flowers on it. It was (and is) the custom of the local natives to plant any especially beautiful flowers on the tiles of the church-roof, thus making them even more special, even sacred; no money in the world would bring that plant into Roezl’s possession, as he well realized. But he wanted that white ‘Flower of San Sebastian’ – what to do?
Then he began to pay attention to what his host, the priest, had been talking about all evening: he had been to a cock-fight, where all six of the villagers’ champion roosters had been defeated and killed, which was a rather humiliating thing for the whole village. Roezl suggested that he – possibly – could help them to improve their chances of winning. If the village’s rooster would win the next cock-fight, he would, as his only reward, ask for the white flowering plant on the church roof. Well, you can guess what happened. The Indians accepted Roezl’s challenge – after all – winning a cock-fight is more important than a pretty plant! Right?...
So Mr. Benedict Roezl took his prize back to England where he sold the first C. skinneri var. alba to a Mr. George Hardy from Manchester for the sum of 2,800 Guineas. C. skinneri had become quite rare in its local environment throughout Central America. It was therefore put on C.I.T.E.S. appendix I and was so rare for a time, that every collector just had to acquire a piece of one or several varieties! It was bred extensively in captivity, was re-introduced to its wild haunts and is now off Appendix I. The taxonomist of course are always hard at work, establishing relationships between species and have decided that together with C. aurantica, C. bowringiana, C. deckeri, Cattleya skinneri is now not a Cattleya anymore but a Guarianthe, abbreviated Gur. They took the native Costa Rican name “Guaria” and added “anthe” (Beautiful flower). So now we are expected to call it Guarianthe skinneri. I wonder for how long this name will last!
Ingrid Schmidt-Ostrander - Canadian Orchid Congress