Leptotes (plant) are mounted on plaques of vegetal fiber or tree cork. Watering and fertilizer must be more frequent during active growth periods and less during dormant periods. Ideal growth conditions require an intermediate temperature and exposure to filtered sunlight. In April 1833, an unknown species from the Serra dos Órgãos mountains of Brazil blossomed in the greenhouse of Mrs. Arnold Harrison, an English collector of orchids homaged in diverse descriptions of noted species such as "Bifrenaria harrisoniae" and "Cattleya harrisoniana". A short time later, Mrs. Harrison sent a drawing and cutting of this plant to the botanist John Lindley, who verified
Cattleya labiata plant has a pseudobulb under every leaf to store water and nutritive substances during the short dry season. In the wet season new leaves grow rapidly, producing a large flowered inflorescence. Flowers are white or lavender colored with a darker spot in the lip. Pollination is performed by insects, usually by a scent-collecting male euglossine bee. The result is a capsule with a very large number of seeds (10,000-20,000). The diploid chromosome number of "C. labiata" has been variously determined as 2"n" = 40, 41, and 46. The haploid chromosome number of "C. labiata" has been variously determined as "n"