Cattleya Explained

Cattleya [1] is a genus of orchids from Costa Rica south to Argentina.[2] The genus is abbreviated C in trade journals.[3]

Description

Epiphytic or terrestrial orchids with cylindrical rhizome from which the fleshy noodle-like roots grow. Pseudobulbs can be conical, spindle-shaped or cylindrical; with upright growth; one or two leaves growing from the top of them. The leaves can be oblong, lanceolate or elliptical, somewhat fleshy, with smooth margin. The inflorescence is a terminal raceme with few or several flowers. Flowers have sepals and petals free from each other; the lip or labellum (lowermost petal), usually has a different coloration and shape from the rest of the flower and covers in part the flower column forming a tube. There are four pollinia (bag-like organs that contain pollen). The fruit is a capsule with many small seeds.[4] [5] [6]

Taxonomy

The genus was named in 1824 by John Lindley after horticulturalist William Cattley. Cattley obtained a specimen of then unnamed Cattleya labiata from William Swainson who had discovered the new plant in Pernambuco, Brazil, in 1817. The plant successfully bloomed under the care of Cattley and it became the type specimen from which Lindley described C. labiata.[7]

Currently accepted species and subgeneric division within genus Cattleya are:[8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]

Subgenus Cattleya

Section Cattleya

Image Name Distribution Elevation (m)
C. aureaS. Panama to Colombia300 – 1000 meters
C. dowianaCosta Rica250 – 1200 meters
C. gaskellianaColombia to Trinidad700 – 1000 meters
C. iricolorEcuador to Peru400 – 1220 meters
C. jenmaniiVenezuela to Guyana300 – 600 meters
C. labiataBrazil600 – 900 meters
C. luteolaN. Brazil, Ecuador to Bolivia100 – 1200 meters
C. mendeliiNE. Colombia1300 – 1800 meters
C. mooreanaPeruaround 990 meters
C. mossiaeN. Venezuela900 – 1500 meters
C. percivalianaColombia to W. Venezuela1300 – 2000 meters
C. quadricolorColombia600 – 1500 meters
C. rexPeru to N Boliviaaround 1350 meters
C. schroederaeNE. Colombia.
C. trianaeColombiaaround 1200 meters
C. warneriE. Brazil400 – 900 meters
C. warscewicziiColombia500 – 1700 meters

Section Crispae

Series Cattleyodes
Image Name Distribution Elevation (m)
C. crispa SE. Brazil 800 – 1500 meters
C. grandis Brazil - SE. Bahia to N. Espírito Santo .
C. lobata SE. Brazil.
C. perrinii SE. Brazil 700 – 900 meters
C. purpurata SE. & S. Brazil
C. tenebrosa Brazil - SE. Bahia to Espírito Santo .
C. virens SE. Brazil 1000 – 1500 meters
C. xanthina Brazil - Bahia to Espírito Santo .
Series Hadrolaelia
Image Name Distribution Elevation (m)
C. alaoriiBrazil - Bahia200 – 600 meters
C. bicalhoiBrazil - S. Minas Gerais to Rio de Janeiro500 – 2000 meters
C. jongheanaBrazil - Minas Gerais1300 – 1600 meters
C. praestansSE. Brazil300 – 500 meters
C. pumilaSE. & S. Brazil600 – 1300 meters
C. sincoranaBrazil - Bahia1100 – 1500 meters
Series Parviflorae
Image Name Distribution Elevation (m)
C. alvarenguensisBrazil - Minas Geraisaround 800 meters
C. alvaroana Brazil - Rio de Janeiro
C. angereri Brazil - Minas Gerais 1000–1300 meters
C. blumenscheinii Brazil - Minas Gerais around 1200 meters
C. bradei Brazil - Minas Gerais 1100 – 1400 meters
C. briegeri Brazil - Minas Gerais around 1370 meter
C. campacii Brazil
C. caulescens Brazil - Minas Gerais 600 – 1200 meters
C. cinnabarina Brazil - S. Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro 800 – 1500 meters
C. colnagoi Brazil - Minas Gerais
C. conceicionensisBrazil - Minas Gerais800 – 1200 meters
C. crispata Brazil - Minas Gerais400 – 1200 meters
C. endsfeldzii Brazil - Minas Gerais 900 meters
C. esalqueana Brazil - Minas Gerais 1100 – 1300 meters
C. flavasulina Brazil - Minas Gerais900 – 1440 meters
C. fournieri Brazil - Minas Gerais1100 – 1800 meters
C. ghillanyi Brazil - Minas Gerais
C. gloedeniana Brazil - São Pauloaround 1600 meters
C. gracilis Brazil - Minas Gerais: Serra do Cipó
C. guanhanensisBrazil - Minas Gerais around 1100 meters
C. harpophylla Brazil - Minas Gerais to Espírito Santo 500 – 900 meters
C. hataeBrazil - Minas Gerais 1000 – 1100 meters
C. hegerianaBrazil - Rio de Janeiro 1000 – 1200 meters
C. hispidula Brazil - Minas Gerais around 1200 meters
C. hoehnei Brazil - Espírito Santoaround 800 meters
C. itambana Brazil - Minas Gerais 1500 to 2200 meters
C. kautskyana Brazil - Espírito Santo 600 – 1000 meters
C. kettieana Brazil - Minas Gerais1500 – 2000 meters
C. kleberiBrazil - Minas Gerais around 1100 meters
C. liliputana Brazil - Minas Gerais: Serra do Ouro Branco 1200 – 1400 meters
C. locatelliiBrazil - Minas Gerais
C. longipes SE. Brazil - Serra do Cipó 1300 – 2000 meters
C. luetzelburgii Brazil - Bahia 1100 – 1700 meters.
C. macrobulbosaBrazil - Espírito Santo around 1600 meters
C. marcaliana Brazil - Bahia 200 – 300 meters
C. milleri Brazil - Minas Gerais 800 – 1300 meters
C. mirandae Brazil - Minas Gerais around 1300 meters
C. munchowiana Brazil - Espírito Santo 1100 – 1300 meters
C. neokautskyi SE. Brazil600 – 1000 meters.
C. pabstii Brazil - Minas Gerais1200 meters
C. pendula Brazil - Minas Gerais
C. pfisteri Brazil - Bahia around 1300 meters
C. presidentensis Brazil - Minas Gerais 1000 – 1300 meters
C. reginae Brazil - Minas Gerais 1200 – 2000 meters
C. rupestrisBrazil - Minas Gerais
C. sanguiloba Brazil – Bahia
C. tereticaulisBrazil - Minas Gerais
C. vandenbergiiBrazil - Minas Gerais
C. vasconcelosianaBrazil - Minas Gerais around 1100 meters
C. verboonenii Brazil - Rio de Janeiro
C. viridifloraBrazil - Minas Gerais
Series Sophronitis
Image Name Distribution Elevation (m)
C. acuensis Brazil - Rio de Janeiro1800 – 2100 meters
C. alagoensis Brazil - Alagoas300 – 500 meters
C. brevipedunculata Brazil - Minas Gerais1220 – 2000 meters
C. cernua Brazil to NE. Argentina2 – 100 meters
C. coccinea Brazil to NE. Argentina650 – 1670 meters
C. dichroma Brazil - Rio de Janeiro1200 – 1525 meters
C. mantiqueirae SE. Brazil1200 – 1890 meters
C. pygmaea Brazil - Espírito Santo915 – 1067 meters
C. wittigiana Brazil - Espírito Santo700 – 2000 meters

Section Lawrenceanae

Image Name Distribution Elevation (m)
C. lawrenceana Venezuela, Guyana, N. Brazil250 – 2400 meters
C. lueddemanniana N. Venezuela0 – 500 meters
C. wallisii N. Brazil

Subgenus Intermediae

Image Name Distribution Elevation (m)
C. aclandiae Brazil 100 – 400 meters
C. amethystoglossa Brazilaround 600 meters
C. bicolor SE. Brazil
C. dormaniana Brazil 600 – 100 meters
C. elongata Brazil 900 – 1500 meters
C. forbesii Brazil around 200 meters
C. granulosa Brazil 600 – 900 meters
C. guttata Brazil .
C. harrisoniana SE. Brazil
C. intermedia SE. & S. Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay
C. kerrii Brazil
C. loddigesii SE. Brazil to NE. Argentina .
C. nobilior WC. Brazil to Bolivia 170 – 700 meters
C. porphyroglossa Brazil .
C. schilleriana Brazil 0 – 800 meters.
C. schofieldiana Brazil around 900 meters
C. tenuis NE. Brazil 1000 – 1200 meters.
C. tigrina SE. & S. Brazil 0 – 100 meters.
C. velutina Brazil
C. violacea lowland Amazon rainforest & Guyana 200 – 700 meters
C. walkeriana WC. & SE. Brazil 0 – 2000 meters.

Subgenus Maximae

Natural hybrids

Currently accepted natural hybrids are:

Nothogenera

Hybrids of Cattleya and other genera are placed in the following nothogenera:

Cultivation

Cattleyas need light, but not direct sunlight; in case of intense sunlight, shade must be provided.[14]

Day temperatures must be between 25-30 °C (77-86 °F) and night temperatures not lower than 10-12 °C (50-53.6 °F).

Must be between 40-70% with good ventilation; however plants must not be exposed to air currents.[15]

Water only if substrate is dry. It can be done once a week, but it all depends on the environmental conditions and the season.

Cattleyas can survive without fertilizing. However, it is advisable to use nitrogen-based fertilizers without urea; fertilizers must be applied during the growth season. To avoid salt accumulation in the substrate, water thoroughly between fertilizer applications.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607
  2. Web site: Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families . Royal botanic Gardens Kew . 21 February 2017 .
  3. Web site: Alphabetical list of standard abbreviations of all generic names occurring in current use in orchid hybrid registration as at 31st December 2007. Royal Horticultural Society.
  4. Buzatto. Cristiano Roberto. Ferreira. Priscila Porto Alegre. Welker. Cassiano Aimberê Dorneles. Seger. Guilherme Dubal dos Santos. Hertzog. Anelise. Singer. Rodrigo B.. 2010. O gênero Cattleya Lindl. (Orchidaceae: Laeliinae) no Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Biociências. pt. 8. 4. 1980-4849.
  5. Book: Withner, C.. The Cattleyas and Their Relatives. Timber Press. 1988. 9780881920994. 1: The Cattleyas. 29–30.
  6. Schweinfurth, C., "Orchidaceae, Orchids of Peru", Fieldiana, Botany 30(3): 535
  7. Web site: Cattleya, Queen of the Orchids: The Showy Cattleya, Queen of the Orchids, BEGINNERS' HANDBOOK - XV. www.aos.org. en-US. 2017-06-29.
  8. Van den Berg. Cássio. 2014. Reaching a compromise between conflicting nuclear and plastid phylogenetic trees: a new classification for the genus Cattleya (Epidendreae; Epidendroideae; Orchidaceae). Phytotaxa. en. 186. 2. 75. 10.11646/phytotaxa.186.2.2. 1179-3163. free.
  9. Web site: Laelia gracilis - IOSPE PHOTOS. www.orchidspecies.com. 2017-06-28.
  10. Web site: Cattleya hispidula - IOSPE PHOTOS. www.orchidspecies.com. 2017-06-28.
  11. Web site: Cattleya gracilis (Pabst) Van den Berg — The Plant List. www.theplantlist.org. en. 2017-06-28.
  12. van den Berg. Cássio. 2016. Nomenclatural notes on Laeliinae-VI. Further combinations in Cattleya (Orchidaceae). Neodiversity. 9. 1. 4–5. 10.13102/neod.91.2. 1 July 2024 .
  13. Web site: Cattleya - World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. apps.kew.org. en-GB. https://web.archive.org/web/20090908041231/http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/qsearch.do?plantName=Cattleya&page=quickSearch. 2009-09-08. dead. 2017-07-01.
  14. Book: Schoser, Gustav. Orchid Growing Basics. 1993. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.. 9780806903620. 64. en. registration.
  15. Web site: Cattleyas for the Beginner - Part 1. www.aos.org. en-US. 2017-07-03.