Hi, Tabby and Ruby here. We are showing you Cattleya coccinea. This orchid grows in cloud forests in Brazil between 12oo and 1500 meters and is pollinated by humming birds. Here in the greenhouse we keep it in the Cool America section (minimum 12C) and grow it mounted and in pots. These plants are both grown from seed and we find it flowers after about four years from when we sow the seed.

The school expeditions to Brazil in 2000 and 2006 saw this species in the wild and here are photos of the plant in its habitat on ridges in the Mata Atlantica. If you look you can see it grows in branches and trunks with moss and so we keep plants damp all year.