Another frosty night here in Somerset but perfect tropical conditions in the school greenhouse, where Cattleya pumila has made its seasonal appearance.

This is a small growing but large flowered species from Brazil and it always causes some excitement when it comes into flower each autumn. We have several clones and all have been grown from seed. The species is native to humid coastal forests in the Mata Atlantica, Eastern Brazil. The species grows as an epiphyte from 600m-1300m altitude which suggests it can cope with wide range of temperatures but we find it does best in our Cool Americas section (Min 12C) where we water it throughout the year.

We have tried the species mounted and in pots and for us it does much better when mounted.