Lycaste Orchids

Lycaste, abbreviated as Lyc in the horticultural trade, is a genus of orchids that contains about 30 species with egg-shaped pseudobulbs and thin, plicate (pleated) leaves.

Lycaste flowers, like all orchid blooms, have three petals and three sepals. The petals are typically yellow, white, or orange and the sepals are yellow, orange, green, or reddish-brown. The petals and sepals may be marked sparsely or densely with red, reddish-purple, purple, or reddish-brown spots. The lip (ventral petal) may be very similar to the other two petals, as in Lycaste aromatica or Lycaste brevispatha, or colored quite distinctively, as in several subspecies and varieties of Lycaste macrophylla. Most Lycaste flowers are medium in size, averaging about 5 to 10 cm, but Lyc. schilleriana is 16–18 cm across. Some Lycaste blooms have a unique fragrance - the scent of Lyc. aromatica has been variously described as cinnamon or clove. The blooms of the species Lyc. cochleata, consobrina, and cruenta also have a pleasant scent.