Tuesday, October 09, 2012

Cattleya (Guarianthe) bowringina

Cattleya (now Guarianthe) bowringiana blooming in the sun room. These large lithophytic orchids are native to Belize and Guatemala where they grow near streams up at around 500 through 3000 ft. They are easy growing tolerant plants that will clump into large specimens fairly easily. As opposed to Cattleyas such as aclandiae or walkeriana which are not at all fond of wet feet, these will tolerate damp potting media, probably due to their lithophytic origin. I've always loved the diamond dust sparkle on these flowers when seen in the sun as well as the sizeable clumps of flowers.

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