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Cattleya amethystoglossa
Cattleya amethystoglossa is one of the most robust species of bifoliate Cattleya. And although the color is quite different, we usually assume that the species is more
closely related to Cattleya guttata (or C. leopoldii,
without going into details here) than to any other species. The species is, or better was, quite common in the
natural habitat. Even today, areas that are well preserved can attest how common the species was. Plants usually
grow on the higher branches of very tall trees, where they can get good air circulation and plenty of light. Of
course they also benefit from the moisture from inside the forest.
Cattleya amethystoglossa is typical from the State of Bahia, but there are informations
(by local collectors and cultivators) that the species might have occurred once down to Espírito Santo.
The problem is that the main native tropical forest in northern E. Santo has been completely destroyed since a
long time ago, and thus this might be very difficult to prove. In any case, Cattleya amethystoglossa
grows as an epiphyte in the humid tropical rain forest near the coast and also in the progressively dryer forest
more to the interior, where actually the species is found in larger numbers.
The plants of Cattleya amethystoglossa
can get quite large, up to almost 3' tall, and very robust plants can produce more than 20 flowers that range in
size from 3" to almost 5" on an inflorescence. Base color of the flowers is usually a light lavender,
and there is a tremendous variation in the amount of spotting on the segments. Color forms are quite rare in nature,
and basically very few alba and coerulea forms
were ever found.
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Distribution Map for Cattleya amethystoglossa.
The species is typical from the State of Bahia, but unconfirmed reports say that the range extends south to the
State of Espírito Santo. For now, this information is not included in the map.
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On 1, we can see
a plant of Cattleya amethystoglossa growing on a branch of a cut tree. This kind of forest, in
the southern part of Bahia State, which is the main habitat for the species, is being cut and at an astonishing
rate, to the point that presently it has been almost totally destroyed. To make matters worse, after a few days,
when the plant material dries out, the cut forest is burnt and thus all the epiphytic plants that were not completely
sunburnt are then totally destroyed. These areas are then used for some sort of poor agriculture that last for
very little time. The the locals move and cut another area. The loss in epiphytic flora has been a total tragedy,
as these forest are quite rich in orchid species.
On 2, we see a typical form of Cattleya
amethystoglossa, with lavender flowers
and plenty of spotting. The amount of spotting actually varies a lot among individuals of the species. |
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