First Lady Orchids

For as long as cattleya hybrids have been made, breeders have been naming them after prominent women of the day. European royalty were often honored and included queens, princesses, empresses, and baronesses. By the early 1900’s, Queen Victoria, Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, and Queen Alexandra all had namesake cattleyas.
Naming orchids for royalty had a considerable benefit for the orchid world. Cattleyas were associated with wealth and social status which increased people’s interest in collecting them, exhibiting them, doing scientific research, and preserving their native habitats.
Royal titles were not part of the American culture so, in the United States, cattleyas were named for the wives of presidents. When the stock market was at its height in early 1929, an American grower, Joseph Manda, named a cattleya for President Herbert Hoover’s wife, Lou. This was the first orchid named for a First Lady and the beginning of a tradition as cattleyas would be named for the wives of the next 13 consecutive U.S. Presidents.
The collection of First Lady hybrids present a historical picture of the trends in U.S. cattleya breeding over an 80 year period. Beginning with the Art Deco style of Mrs. Herbert Hoover’s 1929 ‘Brasso’ to Bess Truman and Mamie Eisenhower’s classic corsages, to Betty Ford’s round exhibition blooms and ending with the modern breeding of Laura Bush’s starburst splash-petal and Michelle Obama’s long lasting compact cattleya.
The lineage of these hybrids also provide an overview of the diverse family of cattleya species that exist in nature as well as an inside look at the renowned growers in America, England, and France who played a role in creating these enduring legacies. It is hoped that the tradition of naming cattleyas for prominent women of the day will continue for generations to come.

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