Cattleya cernua Cattleya cernua Cattleya cernua, commonly known as the Nodding Sophronitis, is a species of orchid occurring from Brazil to northeastern Argentina. It was the type species of the genus "Sophronitis" until the genus was made synonymous with "Cattleya". Twenty plants of "C. cernua" have received a total of 22 AOS awards. The described flowers range from 1.9 cm to 3.2 cm horizontal spread and from 2.0 cm to 3.0 cm vertical spread. In nature, "Cattleya cernua" is pollinated by hummingbirds drawn to the blooms' warm colors. The orchid's cryptic pollinia (masses of pollen which adhere together) provide an interesting adaptation
Cattleya and shape from the rest of the flower and covers in part the flower column forming a tube. There are four polliniums (bag-like organs that contain pollen). The fruit is a capsule with many small seeds. The genus was named in 1824 by John Lindley after horticulturalist William Cattley. Cattley obtained a specimen of then unnamed "Cattleya labiata" from William Swainson who had discovered the new plant in Pernambuco, Brazil, in 1817. The plant successfully bloomed under the care of Cattley and it became the type specimen from which Lindley described "C. labiata". Currently accepted species and subgeneric division within