Laelia purpurata does not have the wide petals of a C. trianaei, and tends to pass this characteristic on to its hybrids. It more than makes up for this, however, by imparting the brilliant, rich colors of its labellum to the lips of its hybrids, and it is the chief contributor to the richly colored lips of most of our purple Laeliacattleya hybrids. There are also good coerulea forms; some of the best coerulea Laeliocattleyas I have seen have L. purpurata as a parent. Because of its floriferousness and the beautiful coloring of its flowers, I feel no orchid collection should be without it.

Laelia purpurata is the parent of probably the most famous primary hybrid in orchid history, Laeliocattleya Canhamiana (L. purpurata × C. mossiae). This cross, which flowers in June in the United States, was the wedding orchid of the cut-flower days, and literally tens of thousands Lc. Canhamiana were grown during the 1940s at the peak of the cut-flower era. The semialba form was the wedding orchid itself, pictured in advertisements in magazines and newspapers, and even in full color on the cover of the American Orchid Society Bulletin for December 1946, followed by four full-color pages of Lc. Canhamiana in bridal bouquets, travel corsages, hair swirls and even on a graduation diploma. Laeliocattleya Canhamiana shows the dominance of L. purpurata’s magnificent lip color, which made the semialba form so appealing. There have been many named clones of Lc. Canhamiana over the years, but the best one I have seen is an old clone named ‘King George’, which has a particularly large and beautiful lip.

Laelia purpurata is native to Santa Caterina in southern Brazil where it is so admired that it is the state flower of Santa Caterina. It is extremely popular with local Brazilian orchid growers and rare clones garner handsome prices — in the thousands of dollars. Whole orchid shows are dedicated to L. purpurata and, with its many color forms, it is a collector’s dream.

Laelia purpurata is known in the orchid world today only as Laelia purpurata. It was pictured in the famous orchid books Lindenia and Reichen-bachia, under this name, and in modern works like L.C. Menezes’ splendid book entitled Laelia purpurata, which shows a marvelous sampling of the many color forms of the species. In addition, when used as a parent in hybrids, the name L. purpurata is used by the Royal Horticultural Society’s orchid registrar, and AOS awards granted to this species are recorded under this name, too.

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