Cattleya bicalhoi
This is the small Brazilian orchid long grown as Laelia dayana (also Sophronitis or Hadrolaelia dayana). Van den Berg transferred it to Cattleya as C. bicalhoi. It is a compact epiphyte with single-leaved pseudobulbs and relatively large purple flowers with a darkly veined lip. It comes from humid Atlantic Forest mountains from southern Minas Gerais to Rio de Janeiro, and wants intermediate to cool, humid conditions with steady moisture.
Where it grows wild
It grows as a small twig and branch epiphyte in humid montane Atlantic Forest, in the Serra da Mantiqueira and Serra do Mar region. Like its close relative Cattleya pumila, it is usually described from mossy trees in humid forest, often near streams. Available field detail is thin.
The one specimen with an elevation was recorded at 1,200 m. The mountains of its range put most populations in the cool-humid band, roughly 600–1,500 m, but this is an inference.
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More Cattleya
Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app.