Cattleya tenuis

slender-stemmed cattleya

A bifoliate Cattleya from the semi-arid inland of Bahia and Pernambuco, Brazil. It has long, slender pseudobulbs up to 90 cm and waxy, fragrant flowers about 10 cm across. It grows on small trunks and rocks in dense caatinga-type thickets at 1000–1200 m and needs a distinct dry winter rest to flower.

Cattleya tenuis — Photo: Dalton Holland Baptista, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

At home, aim for

Day IntermediateTargets in Plantistry

Night A clear drop at nightTargets in Plantistry

Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry

Light Bright, filtered lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry

Expects a seasonal restGrows on trees (epiphyte)

Where it grows wild

An epiphyte or lithophyte in dense semi-arid thickets, on small tree trunks or on the rocks below them.

Literature gives 1000–1200 m; GBIF records span 850–1202 m (median 1100 m).

Brazil Northeast

🔒 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 tenuis? 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-SA 4.0 licence, unmodified.