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| May Flower | ||||||||||||||||||||
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 Cattleya Trianae
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| Cattleya tianae Lindl Prodr.: 324, 1810 |
Cattleya trianae (Lindl & Rchb. fil), or Flor de Mayo ("May Flower"), is a plant belonging to the Orchidaceae family. It grows as an epiphytic orchid, with succulent leaves, endemic to Colombia where it was nominated as the National Flower in November 1936. That year, the National Academy of History of Argentina asked the Latin American countries to participate in an exhibition with the representative flowers of each country. The Colombian government gave the botanist Emilio Robledo the task to designate the most representative flowering plant of the country.
The choice of Cattleya trianae was made for two main reasons:
- The central petal is yellow, blue and red, in the same way as the Colombian flag.
- The species was named after the XIX century Colombian botanist Jerónimo Triana.
The species grows at 1500-2000 meters over sea level, in Cloud forests. It is presently an endangered species due to habitat destruction.
External links
- (Spanish) tierramerica.net
- (Spanish) Luis Angel Arango Library
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