Cattleya eldorado & eldorado var. punctata

[Rosim_in_BR]

These are two eldorados in bloom now. The first is lavender a little darker than the type that some orchidists like to call rosada, or rosea, but I believe that, though not much common, it still falls within the tipo. The lip detail shows an intrinsic characteristic to this species, the lip with micro-serrulated margins. The same detail can be seen in lip of the punctata variety. This is a safe indication that the plant is pure eldorado (though not the only one).
The second plant is the variety punctata, characterized by a small, darker stripe in the centre of the lip. When I first heard of this variety I figured out it should be a whole spotted flower, but later I discovered that in this case this name is used to indicate a small stripe, sometimes as little as a spot (hence punctata!).