Cattleya warscewiczii (The "Warscewicz's Cattley's orchid"), a labiate Cattleya, is a species of orchid.

Cattleya warscewiczii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Epidendroideae
Genus: Cattleya
Subgenus: Cattleya subg. Cattleya
Section: Cattleya sect. Cattleya
Species:
C. warscewiczii
Binomial name
Cattleya warscewiczii
Synonyms
  • Cattleya gigas Linden & André
  • Cattleya sanderiana H. Low, Gard. Chron.
  • Cattleya imperialis O'Brien
  • Cattleya gloriosa Carrière
Drawing of C. warscewiczii in Xenia Orchidacea vol. 1, 1858

It was first collected by Józef Warszewicz in Colombia in 1848-49 and formally described by Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach in 1855.[1] C. warscewiczii exhibits a typical Cattleya sympodial habit. Pseudobulbs are 8-16" (20-40 cm) long, unifoliate, cylindrical or cigar-shaped, grooved. Flowers are 7-11" (17.5-27.5 cm) across, largest in the genus, showy, fragrant.[2][3] In culture the flowering is in summer on that year's spring growth. Strong light and good air movement are required.

The diploid chromosome number of C. warscewiczii has been determined as 2n = 40; the haploid chromosome number as n = 20.[4]

C. warscewiczii hybridizes naturally with C. aurea / dowiana[nb 1], producing C. x hardyana.[1][6] C. warscewiczii has also been used extensively in Cattleya hybridization, to produce large-flowered hybrid Cattleyas.[7]

Notes edit

  1. ^ C. aurea has now been established to be a separate species from C. dowiana,[5] but has occasionally been considered a subspecies in the past. C. aurea is a Colombian species, like C. warscewivzii, while C. dowiana is found in Costa Rica and Panama.

References edit

  1. ^ a b The Showy Cattleya, Queen of the Orchids (Beginners` Handbook - XV) American Orchid Society Bulletin Vol.25, No.2 p.159 (1956) [1]
  2. ^ "Iospe Photos".
  3. ^ I. F. La Croix. The New Encyclopedia of Orchids: 1500 Species in Cultivation (Timber Press, 2008), p.92
  4. ^ page 251 of L. P. Felix and M. Guerra: "Variation in chromosome number and the basic number of subfamily Epidendroideae (Orchidaceae)" Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 163(2010)234—278. The Linnean Society of London. Downloaded October 2010 from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1095-8339.2010.01059.x/abstract
  5. ^ Van den Berg, Cassio. "Reaching a compromise between conflicting nuclear and plastid phylogenetic trees: a new classification for the genus Cattleya (Epidendreae; Epidendroideae; Orchidaceae)." Phytotaxa 186.2 (2014): 75-86. [2]
  6. ^ "Iospe Photos".
  7. ^ "The American Orchid Society".

External links edit