We have two varieties of Cattleya intermedia on our display in Paris. Cattleya intermedia var, orlata has a large pink flower with a lovely dark pink patch on the end of the lip, while Cattleya intermedia var. coerulea has a white flower with a blueish purple lip. These colour forms give an indication of the immense variation present in the species.

Cattleya intermedia is bi-foliate (two leaves on each pseudobulb) and comes from the Mata Atlantica (coastal Eastern Brazil) where it grows in forest up to about 1000m and so is warm to intermediate growing and seems to love our Warm Americas Section (Minimum 15C) where we grow plants in baskets hung high in the greenhouse for good light and drainage. The natural climate is one with a wet summer and a much dryer winter.