Cattleya violacea (HBK) Rolfe 1889 SUBGENUS Schomburgkoidea Withner 1989
Flower Closeup Photos by © Jay Pfahl
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Common Name Violet Cattleya
Flower Size 5" [13 cm]
Found in Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador at elevations of 200 to 700 meters in exposed locations on trees near rivers in low, hot, wet tropical forests as a small to medium sized, hot to warm growing, ascending, bifoliate epiphyte with clavate, slightly compressed, elongate pseudobulbs that are sulcate with age and covered basally with close scarious, nonfoliaceous sheaths that are soon evanescent that blooms in late spring and early summer on a terminal, 3 to 4" [8 cm] long, erect or semi-erect, stout, reddish, few to several [3 to 7] flowered, racemose inflorescence subtended by 1 or 2 basal sheaths with a terete peduncle and fragrant, long-lived flowers that open very flat, all arising on a newly formed pseudobulb. This species is best grown without any rest and is often found in conjunction with ants and may benefit from their presence.
Synonyms Cattleya schomburgkii Lodd. ex Lindl. 1838; Cattleya superba R.H. Schomb. ex Lindl. 1838; Cattleya superba var. alba Rolfe 1890; Cattleya superba var. ashworthii auct. 1895; Cattleya superba var. splendens Lem. 1869; Cattleya superba var. wellsiana auct. 1894; Cattleya violacea f. alba (Rolfe) Christenson 1996; Cattleya violacea var. alba (Rolfe) Fowlie 1977; Cattleya violacea var. ashworthii (auct.) Braem 1984; Cattleya violacea var. splendens (Lem.) Fowlie 1977; Cattleya violacea var. wellsiana (auct.) Braem 1984; *Cymbidium violaceum Kunth 1816; Epidendrum superbum (R.H. Schomb. ex Lindl.) Rchb. f. 1862; Epidendrum violaceum (Kunth) Rchb. f. 1861
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Xenia Orchidaceae Rchb.f 1862 as Epidendrum violaceum; Xenia Orchidaceae Rchb.f 1862 as Epidendrum superbum; AOS Bulletin Vol 28 No 4 1959 photo; AOS Bulletin Vol 29 No 2 1960 photo; Venezuelan Orchids Vol 2 Dunsterville & Garay 1961; AOS Bulletin Vol 32 No 10 1963 photo as C superba; AOS Bulletin Vol 35 No 10 1966; Flora de Venezuela Foldats Volumen XV Part 3 1970; AOS Bulletin Vol 49 NO 1 1980 photo; Orchid Digest Vol 44 No 6 1980 photo; Orchid Digest Vol 47 No 3 1983 photo; AOS Bulletin vol 53 no 7 1984 photo; AOS Bulletin Vol 54 No 10 1985 photo; AOS Bulletin Vol 57 No 2 1988; The Cattleya and their Relatives Withner Vol 1 1988; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1987; Orchid Digest Vol 56 No 4 1992 photo; Manual of Orchids Stewart 1995; Manual of Cultivated Orchids Bechtel; Cribb & Laurent 1982; Icones Orchidacearum Peruviarum plate 015 Bennett & Christenson 1993; Orchids of Peru Schweinfurth 1958; Native Ecuadorian Orchids Vol 1 Dodson 1994; Orchids of Malaya Holttum 1957; Growing Orchids Vol 2 Rentoul 1982; An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Orchids Pridgeon 1982; Orchids of Venezuela; An Illustrated Field Guide Dunsterville & Garay 1979; AOS Bulletin Vol 71 No 11 2002 drawing; AOS Bulletin Vol 73 No 8 2004; AOS Bulletin Vol 74 No 5 2005 photo; AOS Bulletin Vol 75 No 9 2006 photo; AOS Bulletin Vol 77 No 12 2006 photo; Orchid Species of Peru Zelenko Bermudez 2009 photo fide
Cattleya violacea 'Queen Victoria'
An albiscens cultivar Photo by © Jesus Cedeno Plant grown by Mrs. Luisa Ridolfi
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