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Cattleya is a genus of approximately 53 species of orchids from Mexico to tropical South America.
The species was named in 1824 by John Lindley after William Cattley, who recieved and successfully cultivated specimens of Cattleya labiata that were used as packing material in a shipment of other orchids.
They are widely known for their large, showy flowers, and were used extensively in hybridization for the cut-flower trade until quite recently. This genus and the numerous hybrids come close, through their beauty, to the idealized picture we have of the orchids. The flowers of the hybrids can vary in size from 5 cm to 15 cm or more. They occur in all colors except blue and black (there are no blue or black orchids of any kind).
The genus is divided into two groups :
- bifoliate Cattleyas, occurring in Mexico and Brazil. Thwo broad leaves grow from each pseudobulb
- monofoliate Cattleyas, occurring in Brazil, Colombia, Panama, Peru and Venezuela. There is only one, narrower and more erect leaf originating from each pseudobulb.
The typical flower has three rather narrow petals : two are fringed, the third is the conspicuous lip with a fringed margin and various markings and specks. At the base, the fringed margins are folded into a tube. Each flower stalk originates from a pseudobulb. The number of flowers varies; it can be just one or two, or sometimes up to ten.
Cattleya orchids are slow-growing, taking 5-7 years or more to flower from seed. Most produce relatively few, large flowers at maturity. As a result, they have been replaced in the cut flower trade with faster-growing, more floriferous genera, such as hybrid cymbidiums and dendrobium1188 species; see List of Dendrobium species Dendrobium is a large tropical genus of orchid that consists of about 1200 species. This genus occurs in diverse habitats throughout Asia, the Philippines, Borneo, Australia, New Guinea and New Zealand. The spes, among others.
Culture of these plants is relatively straightforward for orchids, and they are considered by many to be the archetypical epiphyticThe term epiphyte refers to any plant that grows upon or attached to another living plant. The term stems from the Greek epi (meaning 'upon') and phyton (meaning 'plant'). These plants are sometimes called "air plants" because they do not root in soil. "orchid" in that they require well-drained media, frequent wet/dry cycles, and good air circulation.
Members of this genus have been in cultivation for almost two hundred years with varying levels of success. They were very popular in the early 20th century.
1 Species
- Cattleya aclandiae (Brazil)
- Cattleya amethystoglossa (Brazil)
- Cattleya araguaiensis (Brazil)
- Cattleya aurantiaca (Mexico to C. America).
- Cattleya bicolor (SE. Brazil)
- Cattleya bicolor subsp. bicolor (Brazil). Pseudobulb epiphyte
- Cattleya bicolor subsp. canastrensis (Brazil) . Pseudobulb epiphyte
- Cattleya bicolor subsp. minasgairensis (Brazil). Pseudobulb epiphyte
- Cattleya boissieri Colombia.
- Cattleya bowringiana (Mexico to Honduras).
- Cattleya × brasiliensis (= C. bicolor × C. harrisoniana) (Brazil) .
- Cattleya × brymeriana (= C. violacea × C. wallisii) (N. Brazil).
- Cattleya candida (Colombia).
- Cattleya × colnagiana (Brazil).
- Cattleya × dayana (= C. forbesii × C. guttata) (Brazil).
- Cattleya × dolosa (= C. loddigesii × C. walkeriana) (Brazil).
- Cattleya dormaniana (Brazil)
- Cattleya dowiana : Queen of the Cattleyas (Costa Rica to Colombia).
- Cattleya dowiana var. aurea : Golden Yellow Cattleya (S. Panama to Colombia). Pseudobulb epiphyte
- Cattleya dowiana var. dowiana (Costa Rica). Pseudobulb epiphyte
- Cattleya × dukeana (C. bicolor × C. guttata) (SE. Brazil).
- Cattleya dupontii (Brazil).
- Cattleya × duveenii ( = C. guttata × C. harrisoniana) (SE. Brazil).
- Cattleya elegantissima (Venezuela).
- Cattleya elongata (Brazil)
- Cattleya forbesii (Brazil)
- Cattleya gaskelliana (Colombia to Trinidad).
- Cattleya × gransabanensis (= C. jenmanii × C. lawrenceana) (Venezuela).
- Cattleya granulosa (Brazil)
- Cattleya × guatemalensis (= C. aurantiaca × C. skinneri.) (SE. Mexico to C. America). National flower of Guatemala
- Cattleya guttata (Brazil).
- Cattleya × hardyana ( = C. dowiana var.aurea × C. warscewiczii) (Colombia).
- Cattleya harrisoniana (SE. Brazil).
- Cattleya herbacea (NE. Argentina).
- Cattleya × hybrida (= C. guttata × C. loddigesii) (SE. Brazil).
- Cattleya × imperator ( = C. granulata × C. labiata) (NE. Brazil).
- Cattleya intermedia (SE. & S. Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay).
- Cattleya × intricata (=. C. intermedia × C. leopoldii) (S. Brazil).
- Cattleya iricolor (Ecuador to Peru).
- Cattleya × isabella (.= C. forbesii × C. intermedia) (SE. Brazil).
- Cattleya × itatiayae (SE. Brazil).
- Cattleya jenmanii (Venezuela to Guyana).
- Cattleya × joaquiniana ( = C. bicolor × C. walkeriana) (Brazil) .
- Cattleya × kautskyi (= C. harrisoniana × C.) (SE. Brazil).
- Cattleya kerrii (Brazil).
- Cattleya labiata (Brazil)
- Cattleya lawrenceana (Venezuela, Guyana, N. Brazil).
- Cattleya loddigesii (SE. Brazil to NE. Argentina).
- Cattleya loddigesii subsp. loddigesii (SE. Brazil to NE. Argentina). Pseudobulb epiphyte
- Cattleya loddigesii subsp. purpurea (Brazil). Pseudobulb epiphyte
- Cattleya × lucieniana ( = C. forbesii × C. granulosa) (SE. Brazil).
- Cattleya lueddemanniana (N. Venezuela).
- Cattleya luteola (N. Brazil, Ecuador to Bolivia).
- Cattleya maxima (Venezuela to Peru).
- Cattleya × measuresii ( = C. aclandiae × C. walkeriana) (E. Brazil).
- Cattleya mendelii (NE. Colombia).
- Cattleya × mesquitae ( = C. nobilior × C. walkeriana) (Brazil).
- Cattleya × mixta ( = C. guttata × C. schofieldiana) (Brazil).
- Cattleya × moduloi (C. schofieldiana × C. warneri) (Brazil).
- Cattleya mooreana (Peru).
- Cattleya mossiae : Easter Orchid (N. Venezuela)
- Cattleya motae (Brazil).
- Cattleya nobilior (WC. Brazil to Bolivia).
- Cattleya patinii (Costa Rica to Venezuela, Trinidad).
- Cattleya × patrocinii (= C. guttata × C. warneriana) (SE. Brazil).
- Cattleya percivaliana : Christmas orchid (Colombia to W. Venezuela).
- Cattleya × picturata ( = C. guttata × C. intermedia) (SE. Brazil).
- Cattleya porphyroglossa (Brazil).
- Cattleya × resplendens ( = C. granulosa × C. schilleriana) (NE. Brazil)
- Cattleya rex (Colombia to N. Peru).
- Cattleya schilleriana (Brazil).
- Cattleya schofieldiana (Brazil)
- Cattleya schroderae : Easter Orchid (NE. Colombia).
- Cattleya × scita (= C. intermedia × C. tigrina) (S. Brazil).
- Cattleya skinneri : Flower of San Sebastian (SE. Mexico to C. America).
- Cattleya storeyi (Windward Is.) (Barbados.)
- Cattleya × tenuata (= C. elongata × C. tenuis) (Brazil) .
- Cattleya tenuis (NE. Brazil).
- Cattleya tigrina (SE. & S. Brazil).
- Cattleya trianae : Christmas Orchid (Colombia).
- Cattleya × undulata ( = C. elongata × C. schilleriana) (Brazil).
- Cattleya velutina (Brazil)
- Cattleya × venosa (= C. forbesii × C. harrisoniana) (Brazil).
- Cattleya × victoria-regina ( C. guttata × C. labiata) (NE. Brazil).
- Cattleya violacea : Superba of the Orinoco (S. Trop. America).
- Cattleya walkeriana (WC. & SE. Brazil).
- Cattleya wallisii (N. Brazil).
- Cattleya warneri (E. Brazil).
- Cattleya warscewiczii (Colombia).
- Cattleya whitei (Brazil)
- Cattleya × wilsoniana ( = C. bicolor × C. intermedia). (Brazil).
