Cattleya (/ˈkætliə/)[2] is a genus of orchids from Costa Rica south to Argentina.

[3] Epiphytic or terrestrial orchids with cylindrical rhizome from which the fleshy noodle-like roots grow.

Pseudobulbs can be conical, spindle-shaped or cylindrical; with upright growth; one or two leaves growing from the top of them.

Cattley obtained a specimen of then unnamed Cattleya labiata from William Swainson who had discovered the new plant in Pernambuco, Brazil, in 1817.

The plant successfully bloomed under the care of Cattley and it became the type specimen from which Lindley described C.