Also Called the Christmas Cattleya, this particular species is there to welcome us around Christmas. The “discovery” of this species was an exciting event in England as it filled a gap in Cattleya blooming season and offered a December blooming Cattleya species to orchid growers (Information from Chadwick and Son).

C. percivaliana 'Summit' FCC/AOS

I had acquired my C. percivaliana ‘Summit’ FCC/AOS from a wonderful Ebay seller. The plant came while in sheath and I, having learned the basics, was not planning to repot it, but the plant came loose in the pot in transit. I, therefore, took the risk and repotted it. C. percivaliana does not like repotting, so all I did was to move the rootball, without disturbing it much, to a new pot. Thankfully, the plant established itself and is now getting ready to bloom.

At this point, the sheath has already opened and the bud is peeping out: probably checking the climate conditions before venturing out. If all goes well, I will post the pictures of the flowers soon, but for right now here are some closeups of the sheath and emerging buds:

Sheath Closeup 2

Sheath Closeup 1

For more details on culture and history of C. percivaliana visit This Link.

Latest Pictures:

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