Definition of "cattleya" []

• Any of various tropical American, mostly epiphytic orchids of the genus Cattleya, much hybridized and extensively cultivated for their showy, variously colored flowers. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "At the May state dinner for Mexican President Felipe Calderón, prickly pear cactus showed up in vermeil wine coolers, and Dowling also tucked a few among the centerpieces of fuchsia roses and cattleya orchids."
• "This cattleya ‘Scheherazade’ blooms at this time each year."
• "It's a cattleya-type orchid, and it's the first time I've ever been able to get a catt to bloom."