Flora of Colombia Flora of Colombia The Flora of Colombia is characterized by 130,000 species of plants that have been described within Colombian territory. The national flower of Colombia is the orchid "Cattleya trianae" which was named after the Colombian naturalist José Jerónimo Triana. The orchid was selected by botanist Emilio Robledo, in representation of the Colombian Academy of History to determine the most representative flowering plant of Colombia. He described it as one of the most beautiful flowers in the world and selected "Cattleya trianae" as National symbol. The national tree of Colombia is the palm "Ceroxylon quindiuense" (Quindío wax palm) which
Cattleya rex rose and red. Sepals narrowly elliptic; petals ovate, elliptic or rhomboid; lip folded to form a tube, with very wavy front margin. Pollinia 4, with curved appendages. James O'Brien described the species for the first time in 1890 from a live flowering plant collected in the area of Moyobamba, San Martín by Mr. Bungeroth and cultivated at L'Horticulture International, Brussels, by Mr. L. Linden. That was the first known flowering plant outside the native habitat of "C. rex". "C. rex" is known from a few localities in the regions of San Martin and Puno in Peru and the department of