Cattleya purpurata Cattleya purpurata Cattleya purpurata, known in the past as Laelia purpurata and Sophronitis purpurata, is native to Brazil where it is very popular among orchid growers. It is an epiphyte that is found in the canopy of tall trees near coastal areas, in the Brazilian states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and São Paulo. The orchid favors bright light and cool to warm conditions and is relative easy to cultive. C. purpurata has been used extensively as a parent in hybridizing with Cattleyas. Cattleya purpurata blooms from late spring to fall with three to five flowers on a
Species Plantarum of the thousands of plant species known to Linnaeus at the time. In the first edition, there were 5,940 names, from "Acalypha australis" to "Zygophyllum spinosum". In his introduction, Linnaeus estimated that there were fewer than 10,000 plant species in existence; there are now thought to be around 400,000 species of flowering plants alone. The species were arranged in around a thousand genera, which were grouped into 24 classes, according to Linnaeus' sexual system of classification. There are no descriptions of the genera in '; these are supplied in the companion volume ' ("the genera of plants"), the fifth edition