About 40 seedlings of this plant were distributed to orchid society members a few years ago as growing competition plants. The owner of the nursery supplying the plants said they were as tough as old boots, that was pretty true because the numbers benched each month remained constant and there was not the usual decline as plants met their end.

Have a look at three single flowers in the photos below, hardly earth shattering and not as beautiful as the species parent.

They were not best sellers either as I got more and more advanced plants at low prices to on-sell at shows.

But every cloud has a silver lining; the ugly duckling has turned into a swan.

a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wsos/5318645737/"; title="Enc.(Bees' Knees x tampensis var. alba 'Mendenhall') 'RM' by wsos, on Flickr">

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