Cattleya warneri var. concolor

[Rosim_in_BR]

Brazil is the home of two large unifoliate Cattleyas - C. labiata and C. warneri. They are very similar in many characteristics, including the genetic instability (lucky us! This means many varieties!!). They would probably be considered a single species if it wasn’t for the geographical separation and the flowering peak - C. warneri, a spring bloomer (South hemisphere), occurs in the southeast region mainly, and C. labiata, a fall bloomer, in the northeast region of Brazil. The plant I’m posting is a concolor variety that I am very fond of.

[tuvoc]

That is simply exquisite Mauro! The more I see of your collection, the more I appreciate the simple grace of so many species.

Kim

[Toddybear]

How do you get such blooms on such a small plant? I only have a few cattleyas and they sprawl all over the place.

[Dorothy]

and again, more beauties
I love this delicate color and that wild frilly lip

[Lagoon]

Oh man this is stunning

[gmdiaz]

What a beautiful hue!

How DO you keep it all nice and tidy growing?

[jim blanford]

That is just beautiful, what great color. Thanks for posting. Jim.

[Rosim_in_BR]

Originally Posted by tuvoc

...the more I appreciate the simple grace of so many species.

Kim

Kim, these two words you used, 'simple grace', go together very well to precisely define what species are for me. They have the simple grace that only mother nature is able to produce. I love and collect hybrids too, but species...

Originally Posted by Toddybear

How do you get such blooms on such a small plant? I only have a few cattleyas and they sprawl all over the place.

Tood, this Cattleya is a naturally short plant with one of the largest flowers among all Cattleyas (if not the larger – some flowers can reach incredible 7” across). My plant’s mature pseudo bulbs are not higher than 4,7” ; the leaves are 5 to 6” long and are normally horizontally (or almost) positioned which helps keeping the overall short aspect.

Originally Posted by gmdiaz

What a beautiful hue!

How DO you keep it all nice and tidy growing?

Gmdiaz, some plants that have the “bad habit” of sprawling around may need a little help to keep in line. I don’t do that to all my ‘bad guys’, but as soon as the new pseudo bulb gets mature I use a thin bamboo stake to keep it upright. Once in position for a few weeks, the stake can be removed and the bulb will stand upright, if the plant is healthy. It does work well for many Cattleya plants.