Here is the whole plant.

Hi Eve, Registered name is Sarcochilus Kulnura Symphony. Kulnura is a small town to the north of Sydney, Australia where the Nursery that made and registered the cross is situated.

Never tried to grow them (Sarcochilus) inside, mine spend all year outside in a shade-house.

Just about to bring the Caspar Milktoasts (Phalaenopsis) inside for winter. The arid westerly wind is blowing and the humidity out there is 30%

Hi Arthur, just checked SVO`s website again, there are some 'Kulnuras' but no Symphony. I don`t know why they do not offer it under the registered name.

I knew they are Australian orchids and after seeing what interesting color combinations your nurseries offer I was eager to find a supplier here, they still seem to be kind of rare.

I read they don`t like too much moisture and since we had a lot of rain so far this year I was hesitant to put them (bought two) outside.

How did you come up with that name (Caspar Milktoast)?? We have a blue norther blowing through today with 40% RH and temps down to 6 degrees C, so I had to get my Phals and other more sensitive orchids that had already migrated outside back in.

Caspar Milktoast is/was a French Cartoon character and the name suits those wimpy Phalaenopsis. As far as the naming goes the nursery in Australia has registered 51 Sarcochilus Hybrids and generally names are not registered till flowers are seen because some crosses do not produce quality blooms.

Keeping tags accurate is a moving target because you do not know when registration of crosses is likely to occur. Besides that access to the RHS Database of Hybrid Orchid Names is readily available. Here is the link.

RHS DATABASE OF HYBRID NAMES

Hi Arthur, just looked up Mr. Milquetoast (it was purposely misspelled) who was created by New York based H. T. Webster for the cartoon series 'The Timid Soul'.

Looked also at the RHS link but could not find anything under Sarc. Elegance 'Petite' and Sarc. Bunyip 'Salmon', found it looking for Kulnura 'Symphony' though. Do I get that right: since seedlings from the same parents can be very different 'Petite' and 'Salmon' are just individual plants with certain characteristics from the Sarc. Elegance and Sarc. Bunyip family?

Sorry, I`m just a bloody beginner on this.

Hi Eve, Thank you for taking time to investigate orchid naming conventions. The RHS Links do not record clone names. They are the bits enclosed in single quotes.

Uses of clone names.

Some nurseries use Clone names for some of their better orchids. 'H & R', 'Carmela',' Southern Cross', 'Sun Coast', 'SVO' and so on are perhaps a guarantee of quality. These clone names are sort of reserved.

I handed out 37 orchids to Society Members for a growing Competition, seeing they are all seedlings (raised from Seed) each label had a clone name so we can tell who owned the plant if it got left behind at a meeting.

Cattleya Deception Flared Fantasy '#1', Cattleya Deception Flared Fantasy '#2', and so on.

Just say you are lucky enough to exhibit a plant and the AOS Judges decide to give it an award........then you would have to give it a clone name (If it didn't have one). For Example, there is a Papiopedilum that is widely awarded around the world and many clones have been awarded.

Paphiopedilum Saint Swithin 'Nick' AM/AOS (Just a made up example) but if you get a division it is your guarantee of quality.

Down the backyard in the slightly heated glasshouse there are more than 100 Tolumnia seedlings produced by a local hybridiser, so far i have not bothered to add clone names to the labels.

So 'Petite' and 'Salmon' have been selected out of many for further breeding. That selection process is a knack that the successful hybridisers have.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for the 'crash course', Arthur! I am still a little confused by the use of the term 'clone'. It`s not like the sheep 'Dolly' where they created identical sheep with the same DNA (that would be mericloning in orchids, right?). Here it is just, like I said earlier, about the different seedlings from the same flask or at least the same parents.

I guess I should better google it then taking up your time on this!

It has already finished blooming but I wanted to add this nice close up picture for you to enjoy.

Your orchid is a clone, it is unique because every Kulnura Symphony raised from seed will be different. You could produce a zillion copies of it by just sending the plant to a laboratory and having it mericloned (Meristem + Clone). Of course, if you did that you have to add that confusing little bit in single quotes.....Perhaps Sarcochilus Kulnura Symphony 'Eve'

I like to buy seedlings because sometimes you end up with a superior flower that no one else has. I would rate your orchid as a "keeper".

The nursery where the cross was made, Barrita Orchids used to raise mainly Phalaenopsis but are now concentrating on Sarcochilus and Oncidium Alliance Hybrids.