Cattleya walkeriana

Cattleya walkeriana, or Walker's cattleya, is a species of orchid. It differs from most species of Cattleya by having inflorescences which arise from the rhizome instead of from the apex of the pseudobulb[nb 1]. In its native habitat (Brazilian Central Plateau) it grows as either an epiphyte or a lithophyte, sometimes in full sun[1][nb 2]. Pseudobulbs are relatively short, bulbous or fusiform, with one or two ovate leaves at the apex. Inflorescence is one- or few-flowered, about 8" (20 cm) tall. Flowers are 4-5" (9-12 cm) across.[2][3]

Cattleya walkeriana
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Epidendroideae
Genus: Cattleya
Subgenus: Cattleya subg. Intermediae
Species:
C. walkeriana
Binomial name
Cattleya walkeriana
Gardner
Synonyms
  • Cattleya bulbosa Lindl.
  • Cattleya gardneriana Rchb.f.
  • Cattleya princeps Barb. Rodr.
  • Cattleya walkeriana var. bulbosa (Lindl.) Fowlie
  • Cattleya walkeriana var. princeps L.C. Menezes
  • Epidendrum walkerianum (Gardner)Rchb.f.

Genetically C. walkeriana is close to bifoliate Cattleyas.[4] The diploid chromosome number of C. walkeriana has been twice determined as 2n = 40; the diploid chromosome number of the variety C. walkeriana var. princeps L.C.Menzes has been determined as 2n = 80.[5]

Notes
  1. The only other Cattleya species that exhibits this trait is C. nobilior.
  2. In culture some protection from direct sun is needed, as plants not habituated to full sun will readily sunburn.

References
  1. "Brazilian Orchids - Orchid News 33". www.delfinadearaujo.com.
  2. "IOSPE PHOTOS". www.orchidspecies.com.
  3. I. F. La Croix. The New Encyclopedia of Orchids: 1500 Species in Cultivation (Timber Press, 2008), p.92
  4. 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.
  5. 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 onlinelibrary.wiley.com


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