Cattleya labiata (?)

[DavidGalli]

The seller told me it's a cross between "Dias Castro" and Serra Negra.

[DavidGalli]

I just noticed that this specimen has a pseudobulb with two leaves.. aren't labiatas supposed to be unifoliate?

[orchidman77]

Beautiful plant! I'm no Cattleya species ID expert, but this bloom does look like other labiatas I've seen. And I know it's also uncommon but very known that unifoliates can produce a second leaf, just as "bifoliate" species will commonly produce a third leaf when very healthy. Thanks for sharing!

David

[DavidGalli]

Thanks for the info =) Happy new year!

[smweaver]

The flower looks great--excellent shape, in my opinion. Unifoliate cattleyas can, in my experience, periodically produce two leaves on each pseudobulbs. I have a Cattleya trianaei that does this, on average, every three years. I'm not sure why, but a second leaf (usually not quite as robust as the main leaf) will form. While it's not "normal" I don't think it's terribly unusual either--so no need to worry. Congratulations on the flowers. They're quite attractive.

Steve