Cattleya violacea (Kunth) Lindley 1842 SUBGENUS Schomburgkoidea Withner 1989
Photos by © Jay Pfahl
Photo by © Pierre Couret
Cattleya violacea 'Queen Victoria'
An albiscens cultivar
Photo by © Jesus Cedeno Plant grown by Mrs. Luisa Ridolfi
A semi alba cultivar
Photo by © Egon Krogsgaard
Drawing by © Dunterville & Garay
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Common Name Violet Cattleya
Flower Size 5" [13 cm]
Found in Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, Amazonas state of 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 the 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.
"Characterized by the elongate, bifoliate pseudobulbs, the three lobed lip withh the lateral lobes erect, the apical lobe ovate, convex and the dark magenta color of the flowers." Dodson 1989
This species is best grown without any rest and is often found in conjunction with ants and may benefit from their presence.
Synonyms Cattleya odoratissima P.N.Don 1840; 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. huebneri Schltr. 1925; 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 Phragmipedium anguloi Braem, Tesón & Manzur 2014 W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
Nov. Gen. Sp. 1: 341 HBK 1816 as Cymbidium violacea
Sert. Orchid.: t. 22 Lodd. ex Lindl. 1838 as Cattleya schomburgkia;
Ann. Nat. Hist. 1: 479 R H Schomb. ex Lindley 1838 as Cattleya supurba;
Florist's J. 1: 185 P.N.Don 1840 as Cattleya odoratissimum;
*Gard. Chron. 1842: 472 Lindley 1842;
Ann. Bot. Syst. 6: 318 Rchb.f 1861, nom. illeg. as Epidendrum violaceum;
Xenia Orchidaceae 2:32 Rchb.f 1862 as Epidendrum violaceum;
Xenia Orchidaceae 2:32 Rchb.f 1862 as Epidendrum superbum;
Ill. Hort. 16: t. 605 Lem. 1869 as C violacea var splendens;
Gard. Chron., ser. 3, 8: 620 Rolfe 1890 as C violacea var alba;
Gard. Mag. (London) 37: 217 Anon 1894 as C violacea var wellsiana;
Orchid Rev. 3: 217 Anon 1895 as C violacea var ashworthii;
Die Orchideen Schlechter 1915;
Atlas des Orchidees Cultivees Constantin 1920 drawing good;
Beih. Bot. Centralbl. 42(2): 108 Schlechter 1925 as C violaceae var huebneri;
Orchids of Malaya Holttum 1957;
Orchids of Peru 3: 535 Schweinfurth 1960;
AOS Bulletin Vol 28 No 4 1959 photo fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 29 No 2 1960 photo fide;
Venezuelan Orchids Vol 2 Dunsterville & Garay 1961 drawing fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 32 No 10 1963 as C superba photo fide;
Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965;
AOS Bulletin Vol 35 No 10 1966;
AOS Bulletin Vol 37 No 7 1968 photo fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 37 No 10 1968 photo fide;
Flora de Venezuela Foldats Volumen XV Part 3 1970 drawing fide;
Orchidaceae Brasilienses Pabst & Dungs Band I 1975 drawing fide;
Braz. Bifol. Cattleyas: 51 Fowlie 1977 as C violacea var alba;
Braz. Bifol. Cattleyas: 51 Fowlie1977 as C violacea var splendens;
Die Orchideen 3 Auflage Bd 1 Sonderabdruck aus Schlechter Lieferung 10 576 - 632 Brieger, Maatsch and Senghas 1977 photo fide;
Orchids of Venezuela, An Illustrated Field Guide Vol 1 Dunsterville & Garay 1979 drawing fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 49 NO 1 1980 photo fide;
Orchid Digest Vol 44 No 6 1980 photo fide;
Orquideologia Vol 15 #1 Luer & Escobar 1981 as C superba
Growing Orchids Vol 2 Rentoul 1982;
An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Orchids Pridgeon 1982;
Orchid Digest Vol 47 No 3 1983 photo fide;
AOS Bulletin vol 53 # 7 1984 photo fide;
Cattleya Brazilian Bifoliate Cattleyas: 87 Braem 1984 as C violacea var ashworthii;
Cattleya Brazilian Bifoliate Cattleyas: 87 Braem 1984 as C violacea var wellsiana;
AOS Bulletin Vol 54 No 10 1985 photo fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 57 No 2 1988;
The Cattleya and their Relatives Withner Vol 1 1988 photo fide;
Icones Planetarum Tropicarum Series II Orchids of Bolivia plate 0311 Dodson & Vasquez 1989 drawing fide;
Native Colombian Orchid Vol 1 COS 1990 photo fide;
Orchid Digest Vol 56 No 4 1992 photo;
The Manual of Cultivated Orchids Bechtel, Cribb and Laurent 1992 drawing/photo fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 62 #7 1993 Photo fide;
Native Ecuadorian Orchids Vol 1 Dodson 1993 drawing/photo fide;
Icones Orchidacearum Peruviarum plate 015 Bennett & Christenson 1993 drawing fide;
Orchids of Brazil McQueen 1993 photo fide;
Manual of Orchids Stewart 1995;
Lindleyana 11: 14 Christenson 1996 as C violacea f alba
Venezuela; Paraiso de Orquideas Romero 1997 photo fide;
Harvard Papaers in Botany Vol 3 # 1 56 Schedulae Orchidum I Garay 1998;
Orchids of Venezuela [An illustrated field guide] Vol. 1 Ramiro and Carnevali 2000 drawing fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 71 No 11 2002 photo fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 71 No 11 2002 as C violacea var flamea estriata photo fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 71 No 11 2002 as C violacea var alba photo fide;
Orchid Digest Vol 66 #2 2002 as C violacea var superba drawing fide;
Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana Vol 7 Steyermark, Berry, Yatskievych and Holst 2003 drawing fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 73 No 8 2004;
Orchids of Bolivia Vol II Laelinae Vasquez & Ibisch 2004 drawing/photo fide;
Flora Of Ecuador # 76 225[2] Dodson & Luer 2005;
AOS Bulletin Vol 74 No 5 2005 photo fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 75 No 9 2006 photo fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 77 No 12 2006 photo fide;
Orquideologia Vol 25 #1 2007 photo fide; Libro Rojo de Plantas De Colombia Vol 6 Primera Parte Saenz 2007;
Orchid Digest Vol 72 #1 2008 photo fide;
Orchid Species of Peru Zelenko Bermudez 2009 photo fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 79 #5 2010 photo fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 79 #7 2010 photo fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 79 #9 2010 photo fide;
Orquideas del Peru Freuler 2010 photo fide;
Orquideologia Vol 28 #1 2011 photo fide;
Las Orquideas del Peru Izerskyy & Bezverhov 2011 photo fide;
Orquideas de Roirama Luz & Franco 2012 photo fide;
Orchids of French Guiana Szlachetko, Veyret, Ejsmont, Sawicka, Rutkowska and Baranow 2012 drawing/photo fide;
Orchid Digest Vol 78 #1 2014 photo fide;
Orchids, A Colombian Treasure Vol 1 Ortiz & Uribe 2014 photo fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 85 #4 2016 photo fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 85 #10 2016 as C violacea f flamea photo fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 86 #4 2017 as C vilacea var semialba photo fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 86 # 7 2017 photo fide;
Orchid Digest Vol 82 #3 2018 photo fide;
Orchid Digest Vol 83 #2 2019 photo fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 88 #7 2019 photo fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 88 #9 2019 photo fide;
Materials to the Orchid Flora of Colombia Vol IV: 471 Szlatchetko & Kolanowska 2023 drawing/photo fide;
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