Cattleya

Cattleya

Cattleya amethystoglossa

Cattleya amethystoglossa is one of the most robust species of bifoliate Cattleya. And although the color is quite different, we usually assume that the species is more closely related to Cattleya guttata (or C. leopoldii, without going into details here) than to any other species. The species is, or better was, quite common in the natural habitat. Even today, areas that are well preserved can attest how common the species was. Plants usually grow on the higher branches of very tall trees, where they can get good air circulation and plenty of light. Of course they also benefit from the moisture from inside the forest.

The plants of Cattleya amethystoglossa can get quite large, up to almost 3' tall, and very robust plants can produce more than 20 flowers that range in size from 3" to almost 5" on an inflorescence. Base color of the flowers is usually a light lavender, and there is a tremendous variation in the amount of spotting on the segments. Color forms are quite rare in nature, and basically very few alba and coerulea forms were ever found.