Zeitschrift der Schweizerischen Orchideenstiftung / Journal of the Swiss Orchid Foundation. Vol. 4: Cattleya. 2014. illus. 98 p. 4to. Paper bd.

The fourth Renziana issue deals with the Neotropical genus Cattleya. Due to their large impressive flowers with golden and royal purple painted lips, cattleyas were highly desired during Victorian times and ranked among the first orchids that were cultivated in the nurseries of the English orchid growers. This has not changed until today - for many orchid enthusiasts these plants still belong to the classics of an orchid collection. In the current issue, we follow our tradition to provide an elaborated classification of the plants with excellent high quality images. Cássio van den Berg, the worlds leading Cattleya-specialist presents the recently published classification of the genus andexplains, why he included Sophronitis or Hadrolaelia into Cattleya. Besides taxonomy, you will find lots of additional information about the plants and helpful tips. Join us on a country tour through Brazil, where you will get unique impressions of the natural habitats. Who is pollinating cattleyas, why do natural hybrids exist and which role do they play for the development of new species? Read about scientists, orchid hunters and orchid growers and learn about how they contributed to taxonomic confusion in the genus. Finally the authors have a look at the outcome of a breeders work and listen to the recommendations of an orchid grower.