Sign in Start free
Species library › Cattleya › Cattleya elegans
Orchids Partly documented

Cattleya elegans

Cattleya × elegans is a natural hybrid of C. purpurata and C. tigrina (C. leopoldii) from southern Brazil, described in 1848. It grows as an epiphyte in the coastal forests where the parents meet, with warm summers, mild winters and rain all year.

Cattleya elegans
Photo: Motohiro Sunouchi, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day IntermediateTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light Bright, filtered lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
No rest periodGrows on trees (epiphyte)

Where it grows wild

A pseudobulbous epiphyte of the coastal Atlantic forest and restinga where both parents grow; in these open coastal forests light is strong.

The one measured site is near sea level (4 m) on the coast at the Rio Grande do Sul–Santa Catarina border.

Brazil SouthBrazil Southeast

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

Grow Cattleya elegans? Add it to a free garden and its full profile opens. Pro opens all 38,374 profiles in the library, plants and fungi.

Start free Sign in

More Cattleya

Cattleya dowiana Cattleya trianae Cattleya mossiae Cattleya cinnabarina Cattleya crispata Cattleya schroederae Cattleya coccinea Cattleya rex Cattleya purpurata Cattleya warscewiczii Cattleya bicolor Cattleya gaskelliana All 288 →

Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY 4.0 licence, unmodified.