FFF188 - CATTLEYA ORCHID

Perhaps no other orchid surpasses the Cattleya in popularity amongst orchid fanciers around the world. And it is the Cattleya which means "orchid" to the lay person, if they are asked to think about orchid types. It is the Cattleya which has been the mainspring of the orchid industry and it is the Cattleya which has done most to stimulate interest in orchid growing as a hobby.

Cattleya is a genus of 113 species of orchids from Costa Rica and the Lesser Antilles south to Argentina. The genus was named in 1824 by John Lindley after William Cattley who received and was the first to bloom a specimen of Cattleya labiata. William Swainson had discovered the new plant in Pernambuco, Brazil, in 1817 and shipped to the Glasgow Botanic Gardens for identification. Swainson requested that a few plants be later sent to Cattley, who was able to bloom one a full year before the plants in Glasgow.

These orchids are widely known for their large, showy flowers, and were used extensively in hybridisation for the cut-flower trade until the 1980s when pot plants became more popular. The flowers of the hybrids can vary in size from 5 cm to 15 cm or more. They occur in all colours except true blue and black. Many of these species and hybrids are very fragrant. The specimen below is a Cattleya mossiae hybrid and is fragrant.

The typical flower has three rather narrow sepals and three usually broader petals: two petals are similar to each other, and the third is the quite different conspicuous lip, featuring various markings and specks and an often frilly margin. At the base, the 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.

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FFF188

1.	WATTLE	15.	Mina fotostunder	29.	ann 3	43.	HoodPhoto OR-USA
2.	NARCISSUS	16.	Hyde Xtra	30.	Donna, Finland	44.	bij jen
3.	CLIVIA	17.	Rose Garden Malevik	31.	Polianthus	45.	la vita
4.	VIOLA	18.	in the garden {winter}	32.	Moni	46.	Yellow and blue arrangement
5.	Aletta - Nowathome	19.	Sara Chapman, Seattle USA	33.	CORNFLOWER	47.	Annie (bien tomber)
6.	BirgittaB	20.	Sara Chapman #2	34.	Pam - Hosta	48.	RLUPhoto
7.	Tom The Backroads Traveller	21.	Sara Chapman #3	35.	Heidrun	49.	orchid (Japan)
8.	Katarina - Sweden	22.	Andrea, Pure Oxy Gen	36.	PIPPA	50.	HoodPhoto OR-USA
9.	Abrianna	23.	Dekotraum - Austria	37.	a spirit of simplicity	51.	Aquariann's Zinnias
10.	Ingmarie We/Refugium	24.	Lea's Menagerie	38.	hapzydeco	52.	veredit
11.	Jesh StG	25.	Frauke { it's me! } | Germany	39.	Zauberpalme	53.	Käthe
12.	bij jen	26.	photographing New Zealand	40.	fabol	54.	Zauberpalme
13.	Dekkotraum - Austria	27.	JULIA [mammilade]	41.	Dawn	55.	Käthe
14.	Romi	28.	ann 3	42.	Anne Seltmann	56.	WoollyMuses

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