We are very fond of celebrating diversity within a species and today we have the alba form of Cattleya perrinii to go alongside the more common pink for featured last month

Cattleya perrinii is a medium sized plant with flowers 12cm across that are very large for the plant. This lovely orchid is native to the Mata Atlantica coastal forests of eastern Brazil. It is found at around 800m, in habitat we have visited, where it grows as a lithophyte or epiphyte in seasonally dry forest that experiences wet warm summers and cooler dryer winters.

We find our alba plant is smaller flowered and smaller growing than the pink form but both are a real joy to grow and flower.