History of Cattleya Orchids

Hi everyone, I’m Danny and, per request of my viewers, today we’ll discuss about the history of Cattleya orchids. Why Cattleyas? well, if you didn’t know, they are the reason why orchids are so popular today, even if they might not be the central object of attention anymore, at least for some people, they are the reason why orchids became so popular and available to people. So let’s start with the beginning.

Like all historical facts, the Cattleya orchid has some blurry information regarding its beginnings as well, so we will just refer here to written descriptions actually published. The exact facts are still up for debate.

The first description of a Cattleya orchid appeared in the year 1819 in a publication created by Loddiges called BOTANICAL CABINET, though at that time it was described as Epidendrum violaceum. Though there are some suspicions that other people have bloomed related species, none of them were described in any publications. In the same year, both W Swainson and W Cattley obtained a cattleya orchid which they divided and grown in their greenhouses. W Cattley had the advantage of being very well known for his collection of exotic plants and his greenhouse. In 1823 he obtained his first bloom from this orchid, orchidologist. Dr. John Lindley named it Cattleya, in honor of its grower mr Cattley, thus establishing a new genus. Since Mr Loddigesi had managed to obtain this orchid as well, he further completed the orchid’s name to cattleya loddigesi.

And so, the hunt for more species of this genus began, sadly with no real luck for decades. Multiple variations of the cattleya loddgesi were found with differences in color and bloom time. In the years to come and to this day there have been discovered about 50 species each of Cattleya and of Laelia orchids from Central America to the south of Brazil. Thus a boom of hybridization started.

Because of its ease of care and showy, elegant and fragrant blooms, the Cattleya orchid became very popular in the 1920’s through the 1950’s, when it was used by fashionable women as an accessory to their outfit. Corsages made of Cattleya flowers were the hot trend at the time, so growers had a real interest in growing and hybridizing this orchid, as business was in full bloom, if you don’t mind me saying. It is said that President Eisenhower’s wife, was never seen in public without her corsage of two or three Cattleya flowers. And she was not the only one attracted to this true queen of flowers. It appears that famous Hollywood stars as Gregory Peck and Raymond Burr grew impressive collections of Cattleya orchids which were visible during interviews and filmed appearances. There are many more accounts for this orchid with famous people, so in the description of this video I will add some links towards these articles if you are interested in knowing more.

These days Cattleyas fight a battle with the well known Phalaenopsis orchid. Though lacking in fragrance, the Phalaenopsis has the advantage of having longer lasting blooms and some hybrids produce a massive amount of blooms. So even if Cattleyas might not be as popular as they used to be, many people still have exclusive Cattleya collections or at least a good amount of this specie in their collection. Wether you prefer this orchid to a Phalaenopsis, it is a personal choice, there is an orchid for every taste. But holy orchid fragrance batman, they sure smell delicious!

By the way, I know orchids names are sometimes pretty hard to pronounce, but one of my viewers insisted on me mentioning this. The correct way of pronouncing this orchid’s name is Cattlya, not cattle -eya. So think of cats rather than cows when you speak of them 🙂 in any case, you will find a useful link in the descriptions which tells you some of the most popular orchid’s names and how to correctly pronounce them.

How to pronounce orchid names http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-pronounce-orchid-names.html

More about Cattleyas throughout the years

http://www.orchid.org.uk/catcult.htm
http://www.chadwickorchids.com/labiata
https://www.aos.org/Default.aspx?id=443
http://www.chadwickorchids.com/priscilla-presley-orchid
http://www.chadwickorchids.com/celebrity-orchids

How to care for Cattleyas video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhIPWC3s1s0

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