Cattleya dolosa Pics and Info

[Anglo]

This is an ordinary seedling.



This one is a result of more selective breeding. It’s rounder and flatter and has a broader lip.



The rounder, fuller one has only a faint, fruity fragrance during the day. The plainer one in the first picture has a beautiful fragrance. Stronger, sweeter, and more complex. It's at its best from mid-morning into the afternoon.

Dolosas are easy to please and easy to bloom. They are vigorous plants with thick, fast growing roots. I grow them in wooden baskets full of coarse fir bark, the same way I grow other Catts. The roots grow quickly through the medium. Some stay in it and some emerge to continue growing as aerial roots or adhere along the outer surfaces of the basket.

C. dolosa is a Brazilian bifoliate that was first described in 1876. It grows as a lithophyte in the state of Minas Gerais and blooms in the spring and/or fall. It's been classified in various ways, including as a natural hybrid of C. loddigesii and C. walkeriana, which many still believe it to be, even though it has since been reclassified as a distinct species.

One reason for the reclassification was that it could not be reproduced through artificial crosses. A loddigesii x walkeriana cross results in a hybrid known as Cattleya Heathii, which is a little different. Some agree with the current taxonomy, but some don’t. Brazilian orchid growers commonly regard C. dolosa as a natural hybrid.

The Latin species name means “deceiver.” It reflects the confusion associated with classifying this Cattleya. And there is some additional man-made deception. Breeders have been known to assign the term “dolosa” to Heathiis or hybrids with dolosa and loddigesii or walkeriana as a parent. And it appears to have been used deceptively in breeding walkerianas on occasion. For example, C. walkeriana 'Kenny' AM/AOS and C. walkeriana 'Pendentive' AM/AOS both have C. dolosa in their backgrounds.

C. dolosa is not commonly grown in the United States, but it is fairly popular in Brazil where some fine and award-winning cultivars have been produced in various colors.