Cattleya maxima Cattleya maxima Cattleya maxima is a species of orchid in subfamily Epidendroideae found from Venezuela to Peru. Epiphytic herb with club-shaped pseudobulbs, up to 39 cm. or taller with one leaf at the top (total height of pseudobulb and leaf about 61 cm). Leaf oblong or broadly oblong, rounded at apex, light green, up to 35 cm. long and up to 6 cm. wide, thick and fleshy. Inflorescence stem up to 30 cm long, with 3-6 (upland variety) or 12-15 (lowland variety) flowers. Flowers 12–15 cm wide, with lilac or pale rose sepals and petals, except the lip or labellum,
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