Laelia purpurata var. roxo-violeta

[Rosim_in_BR]

Here is the violet-purple (roxo-violeta) variety of this fantastic species! There is a lot of confusion as to the correct naming of these caerulea varieties. Actually, names like ardosia, aço, werkhauseri, aço-quente have been freely used to designate no matter what bluish L. purpurata only to increase the mess with these designations.
For example, variety caerulea is commonly found inappropriately labeled 'Werkhauseri', a name that should only be used to designate the specific and very first clone found. It is also known as var. ardósia' (slate), which also is not appropriate. All of these are actually var. caerulea. The only true separate variety, for its singular blue hue, far different from that of var. caerulea, at least in my opinion, is the var. roxo-violeta. This latter is also known as 'aço', or still 'aço quente', in my opinion also inappropriate names. The differences between the two can easily be assessed in the second photo below.

Var. roxo-violeta:
Laelia purpurata Lindl. & Paxton - var. roxo-violeta on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Var. caerulea & roxo-violeta side by side:
Laelia purpurata Lindl. & Paxton - var. caerulea (L) & var. roxo-violeta (R) on Flickr - Photo Sharing!