Bletia patula var alba Hawkes 1950, a rare sighting

Fully mature flower

Newly opened flower

I had heard of Bletia patula alba for many years but had never seen one “in the flesh”.  Yesterday in the Mayaguez Orchid festival I finally was able to see one.  A plant of this type was awarded by the AOS many years ago, but so far as I know that plant was lost.  I found a very pale form of this species in the wild some years ago, but in all my field trips I have never seen an alba in the wild.  In some areas of Arecibo I have seen fields where there were thousands of plants but all of them were uniformly colored.  I would hope that this clone will be selfed and the seed sown or some divisions are distributed among hobbyists so that it is not lost again.