Cattleya maxima ssp. alpine

[Rosim_in_BR]

This is the montane subspecies of this beautiful Cattleya. The plant is shorter, the flowers darker and the lips are much, much more stripped than the lowland type. These flowers use to show various degrees of keeling in the petals, which is not the case with this one. The plant in the photo is a pair of back bulbs that I cut off the main plant last year; I didn't expect it to flower now because the new growth is still very small!