Epiphytic herbs with thick, fleshy or pseudobulbose stems, 1-to 2-foliate at the apex. Leaves coriaceous or fleshy, most often thick. Inflorescence terminal, usually subtended by a spathaceous bract; raceme simple; flowers often large and showy, usually few. Sepals subequal, free. Petals usually broader than the sepals. Lip sessile, broad, erect, free from or slightly adnate to the column, sides erect and usually enfolding the column. Column long, wingless, often somewhat arcuate; anther terminal, operculate, incumbent, each cell with a longitudinal septum; pollinia 4, parallel, ceraceous, broad, somewhat compressed. One variety in Panama, about 30 in Central and South America. Cattleya is the most widely cultivated of the orchids. It hybridizes easily with Laelia, Brassa-vola and Sophronitis and the hybrid genera formed by these crosses.
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