Bloom Event - Coelogyne X intermedia

I was given this plant in exchange some time ago (February in fact) and have been wondering ever since if it would flower under my conditions. It is reputed to be a hybrid between Coelogyne cristata and Coelogyne tomentosa (then massangenana), though I (along with quite a lot of other people) find this highly unlikely given that they are from two completely different sections of the genus (not to mention the geographical separation of the two species). More likely is that it is either a form of Coelogyne cristata or a natural hybrid between C. cristata and C. flaccida. If the latter is true then that would make C. X intermedia synonymous with the naturally found hybrid C. unchained melody. This seems the most likely to me.

This plant has produced a newly matured pseudobulb under my conditions and has managed to produce a flower spike. Given that, if my supposition that C. X intermedia is a hybrid between C. cristata and C. flaccida is correct, I am very impressed to see flowers because both of its parents are cool growers, with C. cristata being notoriously difficult to bloom if kept too warm. As you would expect from two such gorgeous parents, the hybrid is also rather gorgeous.

The friend I got it off assures me it grows and flowers fine for him under intermediate conditions. Normally, much as I love the big white flowered Coelogyne, I steer clear of them because my growroom is far too warm to bloom them so it is a relief and a joy to see one bloom under conditions under which I can easily bloom Phalaenopsis.

This is a truly awful photos in a variety of ways but you can see that the habit of the plant is very like its parents (by that I mean nothing at all like Coelogyne tomentosa), so I'm not sure where its heat tolerance comes from, but I'm grateful for it.