[2] The epiphytic genus Encyclia occurs in Florida, the Caribbean, Mexico, and other regions of the tropical Americas.

Most of these species are found in seasonally dry forests where the humidity tends to remain high throughout the year, though precipitation is infrequent, sometimes lacking for months.

The plants have continuously growing rhizomes that eventually create a large mass.

In cultivation they may fail to split, so growers will divide them by hand to prevent the plants from forming unwieldy mounds.

This genus was originally included in Epidendrum until William Jackson Hooker separated it in 1828.

The genera Euchile, Prosthechea and Dinema were separated from Encyclia based on morphological analysis.