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Phal. Princess Kaiulani Oscar Kirsch registered the hybrid Phal. Princess Kaiulani, a primary hybrid between Phal. violacea and Phal. amboinensis. Little could he imagine the impact that this hybrid would have, although most of this impact took over thirty years to really begin to be felt. Many people would now consider this primary hybrid a natural but it wasn’t until 1961 that it was registered. The flowers of Phal. Princess Kaiulani are extremely variable, ranging from green (with or without varying amounts of red overlay) through every shade of yellow and orange to near-solid red. A sib cross produced the ‘Bertsch’s’ clone which has distinct Phal. amboinensis barring covering the green-tipped white petals and sepals. As a rule, flower count is relatively low but inflorescences will re-bloom from year to year resulting in an adult plant that can really put on quite a show. Frequently unmentioned is a bonus – a wonderful fragrance which is so rare in phalaenopsis. Hybridizing with Phal. Princess Kaiulani has been slow in coming and sparse once it did come. The first hybrids registered with Phal. Princess Kaiulani were registered in 1966 and, to date, there have never been more than 10 hybrids registered in any one year. In 1973, the first second-generation Phal. Princess Kaiulani hybrid was registered. Breeding continues and, in 1999, the first sixth-generation Phal. Princess Kaiulani hybrid was registered. Phal. Princess Kaiulani adds or intensifies red coloring in its hybrids, occasionally producing magnificent solid red offspring. And, many of them are fragrant. A few US-made hybrids are well known: *
1967 - Phal. Coral Isles (x P.
lueddemanniana) In Taiwan, there are many more well known complex hybrids. But, as mentioned above, most of these hybrids are quite recent: *
1987 - Phal. Talung’s Red Fire
(x P. Paifang’s Queen) Surprisingly enough, very few of the hybrids of Phal. Princess Kaiulani bred to species are well known. Some of those that are better known are: *
1968 - Phal. Corlani (x P. cornu-cervi) The best known and the most frequently used of all of these hybrids is Phal. Coral Isles. It is composed of the "essential" (at the time it was made) triumvirate of species for colorful breeding: Phal. violacea, Phal. amboinensis and Phal. lueddemanniana. [With the discovery of Phal. venosa, this triumvirate has now become four. The only hybrids to incorporate all four of the essential species are Phal. Coral Nosa (Coral Isles x venosa), registered in 1992 and Phal. Venimp (Malibu Imp x venosa), registered in 1991.] Phal. Coral Isles ‘York’, AM/AOS is the only awarded clone of this grex in North America. This flower is chartreuse with mahogany barring. It has been used extensively in hybridizing, especially by Ernie Finney at Orchids by Hausermann. Moreover, as with many of their plants, Hausermann’s was kind enough to meristem the plant and make it available at very reasonable prices. In Taiwan, however, through the process of selective breeding, the clone ‘Yung Ho’ was developed and is in regular use. In the past few years, this clone has become available in North America and its progeny will soon be available on both sides of the Pacific. Phal. Coral Isles has produced some outstanding progeny: * x Dtps. Mary Ames – Dtps. Tonjy Yuby – magnificent flower; the parent of only one registered hybrid to date, Dtps. Brother Violet Princess (x Dtps. King Shiang’s Rose).* x Phal. Ambotrana – Phal. Windwalker – a milestone in its day but the parent of only 5 hybrids despite wide distribution and high fertility. * x Phal. Corning’s Violet – Phal. Cherokee Chief was in extensive use at Hausermann’s. However, since it was only registered in 1982 and its first progeny only registered in 1986, we will just have to be patient. To date, its most well known offspring are Phal. Fire House (x Phal. Arlington Amethyst) and Phal. Unforgettable Fire (x Phal. Carnival Queen). * x Phal. Paifang’s Queen – Phal. Paifang’s Queen Rose was registered in 1991 but has not been used in any registered hybrids to date. * x Phal. gigantea – Phal. Auspice Green Lake – relatively recent hybrid (1991) with no registered progeny to date. * x Phal. lueddemanniana – Phal. Aileen Stoops is the parent of Phal. Fancy Free. The clone ‘Scarlet Spring’ was meristemmed by Hausermann’s and has produced some incredibly colored offspring to date. It is quite floriferous with a good inflorescence and truly red flowers (not red-purple as so many "red" flowers). It has now been bred to plants such as Phal. Brother Purple ‘Brother’, Phal. Brother Supersonic ‘Bedford’ and Phal. Brother Passion ‘Bedford’. Expect more large, floriferous, intensely colored red progeny. * x Phal. venosa – Phal. Coral Nosa. The hybrid Phal. Coral Nosa was only registered in 1992 and is not well known in North America but it has been bred to both Phal. gigantea and Phal. George Vasquez to produce Phal. Black Beauty and Phal. Black Eagle respectively. Each of these hybrids is the parent of awarded progeny bred to Phal. Golden Peoker (Black Peoker and Perfection Is, respectively). Phal. Coral Nosa is also the grandparent of Phal. Sogo Beer (Queen Spot x Ta Lin Kaiulani). Another of its hybrids, Phal. Chiayi Golden Moon (x Phal. Maritea) is also "bound for glory" as soon as it makes its way to North America. Phal. Princess Lorraine (Lady Ruby x Princess Kaiulani) was registered in 1979 and produced 3 awarded clones. John Ewing registered the hybrid of Phal. Princess Lorraine with Phal. amboinensis, Phal. Sara Lee. Almost 20 years ago, the only awarded clone of Phal. Sara Lee received a 79-point HCC. Distribution of the better clones of Phal. Sara Lee was slow in coming but Phal. Sara Lee has shown its potential in its first four hybrids: Phal. Lil Johnson (x Phal. stuartiana, 1985), Phal. Sweet Revenge (x Phal. Deventeriana, 1991), Phal. Brother Supersonic (x Phal. Brother Purple, 1997) and Phal. Brother Sara Gold (x Phal. Taipei Gold, 1997). Each of these grexes has produced awarded progeny, including an Award of Quality to both Phal. Sweet Revenge and Phal. Brother Supersonic. The first Phal. Sweet Revenge hybrid was only registered in 1996 but both Phal. Golden Revenge (x Phal. Golden Buddha) and Phal. Sweet Quest (x Phal. equestris) demonstate some of the potential. Because of the wide distribution of Phal. Brother Supersonic, its overall high quality and high fertility, expect it to begin producing some exceptional progeny. The two drawbacks in breeding with it are its size (– The red flowers tend to be under 3 inches. –) and the fact that many clones are recurved to a greater or lesser extent. Nevertheless, because of its near-perfect shingling, luminous color and overall high quality, expect to see many hybrids coming from Phal. Brother Supersonic. Phal. Tabasco Tex has not been used extensively in breeding but several of its hybrids are well known and generally solid red. When bred to Phal. Carnival (which is very similar to Phal. Paifang’s Queen but not used much in North America because of its recurved form), we get Phal. Red-Hot Chili, possibly the most well known offspring of Phal. Tabasco Tex. It is the parent of Phal. Red Hot Imp (x Phal. Malibu Imp) with many awarded clones but no registered offspring. The overall quality of this hybrid is exceptional. Some of the other well known progeny
of Phal. Tabasco Tex include: Once again, we are dealing with relatively recent hybrids and we will just have to adopt a "wait and see" attitude. Phal. Talung’s Red Fire (x Phal. Paifang’s Queen) was a breakthrough hybrid in Taiwan. In the book of Taiwanese Phalaenopsis that came out in the early ’80s, we can see several striking clones. The clones pictured in the book appear to exhibit very high quality but fertility was apparently difficult. Many of the clones did not breed but, for those that did, the offspring hold great potential. There are about 20 registered first-generation hybrids and others in flask including crosses to Phal. Brother Supersonic ‘Bedford’ and Phal. Brother Sally Taylor ‘Bedford Ruby’. The registered hybrids include the following: * Phal.
Hueifong Red Fire (x Phal. Lee Koi Choon) – The clone ‘Huei Fong’
has received an AM/AOS. Phal. Yungho Princess Gelb (x Phal. Yungho Gelbliambo) is another Phakl. Princess Kaiulani hybrid that has received limited distribution in North America. Considering the fact that Phal. Yungho Gelbliambo is Phal. amboinensis x Phal. Gelblieber (amboinensis x micholitzii), we are basically dealing with an enhanced Phal. amboinensis. (But what an amboinensis!!!) Very few of its hybrids have made it to this side of the Pacific but those that did show some of the potential. Two of its hybrids Phal. Brother Dynasty (x Phal. Brother Fancy) and Phal. Bright Peacock (x Phal. Golden Peoker) have both received AOS awards. Its hybrid, Phal. Sogo Kaiulani (x Phal. Princess Kaiulani) was bred to Phal. Sogo Peak (Super Stupid x Brother Peak) to produce Phal. Sogo Cock. Seedlings of this hybrid were available for purchase at the WOC in Vancouver and two clones of this grex have already received AOS awards. Phal. Bill Freeman, a Phal. Princess Kaiulani grandchild, produced Phal. Buddha Tribute when bred to Phal. Buddha’s Gift. This hybrid has well over a dozen AOS-awarded clones including an Award of Quality. There are no progeny registered to date but some are available in flask at this time. Expect some interesting plants. Phal. Seminole is a third-generation hybrid of Phal. Princess Kaiulani. It produced both Phal. Hausermann’s Adam (x Phal. Yellow Marquis) and Phal. Heart of Gold (x Phal. Hausermann’s Goldcup), both of which have been important plants for Ernie Finney in the Hausermann’s breeding program. Although registered in 1961, Phal. Princess Kaiulani did not "catch on" quickly. However, as these progeny were seen and their potential realized, more and more people began to use it and its offspring in their breeding programs. The ’80s and the ’90s experienced continued growth in breeding with it and its offspring, particularly in 1997 when the number of registered hybrids hit an all-time high. But with more hybrids being made and with the offspring reaching ever-improving levels of quality, we can expect a bright new future. In fact, now that Phal. Penang Girl (venosa x violacea) has entered the picture, we are doubly blessed. Be on the lookout: Tomorrow will be a colorful day! * * * * * There are several awarded clones of Phal. Princess Kaiulani:
*RA is the Register of Awards, the precursor to the Awards Quarterly.
The opinions expressed in the plant of the month articles are those of Howard S. Ginsberg and are based on various discussions, observations and research which includes American Orchid Society Awards by James R. Fisher and David A. Bishop (available from the American Orchid Society) as well as the Wildcatt Database (available from the Wildcatt Database Company). The Wildcatt Database may not be perfect but it is far and away better than whatever is in second place.
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