59 Medium Orchids | 2026 Guide

Bifrenaria harrisoniae, commonly known as Harrison's Bifrenaria, is a striking epiphytic orchid endemic to Brazil. Found in the Atlantic Forest and Cerrado biomes at elevations between 200 and 1,200 meters, it produces large, waxy, fragrant flowers — predominantly white with a pink-to-burgundy labellum and dark veining — up to 8 cm across. The robust pseudobulbs store water and nutrients, enabling the plant to withstand seasonal dry periods.

Pine-pink Orchid

Bletia purpurea

Bletia purpurea, commonly known as Pine-pink Orchid, is a terrestrial orchid native to the Caribbean, Florida, Mexico, and Central and South America. It produces oval pseudobulbs and elegant linear leaves, with impressive flower spikes carrying up to 80 pink-purple blooms on stems reaching 180 cm tall. The plant is deciduous, going dormant in winter before blooming in spring and summer.

Lady of the Night

Brassavola nodosa

Brassavola nodosa, known as the Lady of the Night, is a medium-sized epiphytic orchid native to coastal regions of Central and South America, from Mexico to Brazil, where it grows on trees and even mangrove roots near the sea. Its cylindrical, succulent leaves produce stems with greenish-white flowers up to 6 inches (15 cm) wide, which release an intense, sweet fragrance at dusk to attract pollinating moths.

Spider Orchid

Brassia

Brassia is a genus of epiphytic orchids native to the tropical and subtropical forests of Central and South America, popularly known as spider orchids due to their long, thin petals and sepals that resemble spider legs. Their flower spikes can display up to 20 blooms in shades of yellow, cream, greenish, or reddish-brown, usually speckled with dark spots. It is a genus appreciated by both collectors and commercial hybridizers, valued for its exuberant flowering and exotic floral shape.

Spider Orchid

Brassia arachnoidea

Brassia arachnoidea, known as the spider orchid, is an epiphytic orchid native to the humid tropical forests of Central and South America, including Ecuador. It is named after the shape of its flowers—long, thread-like, greenish-yellow sepals and petals spotted with chocolate brown, reminiscent of a spider's legs. The leaves are broad and pleated, attached to ovoid pseudobulbs, and the flowering stems can bear up to 8 fragrant flowers, each with a diameter of 10-12 cm.

Miltassia orchid

Bratonia Charles M. Fitch

Medium 💧 3 days ☀️ Partial shade

Bratonia Charles M. Fitch is a popular intergeneric orchid hybrid, a cross between Brassia verrucosa and Miltonia spectabilis. It is celebrated for its large, star-shaped flowers that resemble spiders, featuring striking lavender and purple hues with olive-green or brown spotting. The plant produces long, arching sprays of blooms that can last for several weeks, emerging from pseudobulbs with strap-like evergreen leaves.

Pale Umbrella Orchid

Bulbophyllum longiflorum

The Pale Umbrella Orchid (Bulbophyllum longiflorum) is a widespread epiphytic or lithophytic orchid native to rainforests and hill forests across Africa, Madagascar, the Mascarenes, Seychelles, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Fiji and northern Australia. It grows from a creeping rhizome bearing widely-spaced, dark green pseudobulbs, each topped with a single fleshy leaf. Its most striking feature is the umbrella-like flower cluster: a semicircular umbel of small, greenish cream to yellowish blooms speckled with purple, held on an arching stem above the foliage.

Corsage Orchid

Cattleya

Cattleya is an iconic genus of approximately 110 epiphytic and lithophytic orchid species native to the tropical Americas, ranging from Mexico to Argentina. Known as the "Queen of Orchids," the genus is celebrated for its large, fragrant, and showy flowers in vivid shades of pink, lavender, white, and yellow. In the Bloom database, a legacy entry "Cattleya spp" exists as an older collective reference for the genus. This "Cattleya" entry was created specifically for genus-level matching from Plant.id automated identifications.

Easter Cattleya

Cattleya intermedia

Medium 💧 4 days ☀️ Partial shade

Cattleya intermedia is an epiphytic orchid native to the Atlantic coastal forests of southern Brazil (São Paulo, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul states), as well as Uruguay and Argentina. It grows on rocks and tree branches in humid coastal environments. The species produces large, fragrant, long-lasting flowers in white, lavender, and pale pink with a vibrant magenta lip, blooming in spring and summer.

Crimson Cattleya

Cattleya labiata

Cattleya labiata is an epiphytic orchid native to northeastern Brazil, found in states such as Ceará, Pernambuco, Bahia, Sergipe, Alagoas, and Paraíba. Known as the "Queen of the Sertão" (Brazilian outback), it is one of Brazil's most emblematic orchids and was officially designated as the flower symbol of Ceará state in 2025. Its club-shaped pseudobulbs can reach 25cm in height, with a single thick, leathery light-green leaf. It produces 2 to 5 flowers per bloom, each measuring 15-20cm, in shades of pink, lilac, purple, and white, with a vibrant lip and a distinctive fragrance that inspired the famous Chanel N°5 perfume.

Mendel's Cattleya

Cattleya mendelii

Medium 💧 10 days ☀️ Bright indirect

Cattleya mendelii, commonly known as Mendel's Cattleya, is a stunning epiphytic orchid native to the cloud forests of Colombia. It produces large, showy flowers with white to pale pink petals and sepals, crowned by a magnificent crimson-purple lip with a yellow throat. Celebrated for its intense fragrance and elegant blooms, it is considered one of the most graceful species in the Cattleya genus. It grows as a unifoliate epiphyte, meaning each pseudobulb bears a single leaf, and blooms reliably in late spring.

Cattleya Orchid

Cattleya spp

Medium 💧 3 days ☀️ Bright indirect

Cattleya (Cattleya spp) is a genus of epiphytic orchids native to the Atlantic Forest of Brazil and other tropical regions of South and Central America. Known as the Queen of Orchids, it produces large, showy flowers in vibrant shades of purple, pink, white, yellow, and orange. It is among the most cultivated orchids in the world, prized by collectors and orchid enthusiasts alike.

Christmas Orchid

Cattleya trianae

Cattleya trianae, the Christmas Orchid or Winter Cattleya, is the national flower of Colombia. This epiphytic orchid from the Andean cloud forests produces spectacular blooms in shades of purple, white, and pink with a distinctive lip, flowering from late December through early spring.

Snow Queen Orchid

Coelogyne cristata

Coelogyne cristata is a stunning epiphytic orchid native to the cool, moist Himalayan foothills. It produces cascading sprays of pristine white flowers with golden-yellow markings on the lip, blooming in late winter to early spring. Its evergreen strap-like leaves emerge from oval pseudobulbs. This orchid is treasured by collectors for its spectacular winter blooms and intoxicating fragrance.

Cymbidium orchid

Cymbidium

The Cymbidium genus comprises orchids highly valued for their lush flowers and flower spikes that can last up to ten weeks. Unlike many tropical orchids, Cymbidiums prefer cooler climates and are known as cool-climate orchids. They feature oval pseudobulbs and long, strap-shaped leaves that remain green year-round.

Indian Boat Orchid

Cymbidium aloifolium

Cymbidium aloifolium, commonly known as the Indian Boat Orchid or Aloe-leafed Cymbidium, is an epiphytic orchid native to tropical and subtropical forests of Asia, including India, China, and Southeast Asia. It features stiff, strap-like leaves resembling aloe foliage and produces graceful arching flower spikes with cream, pale yellow, and maroon-striped blooms.

Dendrobium Orchid (genus)

Dendrobium

Dendrobium is one of the largest orchid genera, comprising over 1,800 species native to tropical and subtropical Asia, Oceania, and Pacific islands. These epiphytic plants grow on trees and are adapted to diverse climates — from humid tropical forests to cool mountain regions. They produce stunning flowers in a wide array of colors and are widely cultivated as ornamentals.

Honohono Orchid

Dendrobium anosmum

Dendrobium anosmum, commonly known as the honohono orchid or sanggumay, is a pendulous epiphytic orchid native to the Philippines, New Guinea, Thailand, and Sri Lanka. It produces long, cane-like deciduous pseudobulbs adorned with fragrant flowers in shades of pink, white, and lavender-purple, blooming profusely in spring. Despite the misleading epithet "anosmum" (odorless), most plants emit a delightfully sweet fragrance.

Hooded Orchid

Dendrobium aphyllum

Dendrobium aphyllum, commonly known as the Hooded Orchid, is a deciduous epiphytic orchid native to Southeast Asia, from India to Vietnam. It produces elegant, pendulous canes that shed their leaves during dormancy, then burst into bloom with delicate pinkish-violet and white fragrant flowers every spring. Its dramatic seasonal cycle makes it a prized specimen for intermediate to warm orchid growers.

Cooktown Orchid

Dendrobium bigibbum

The Cooktown Orchid (Dendrobium bigibbum) is a stunning epiphytic orchid native to the tropical rainforests of northeastern Australia, particularly the Cape York Peninsula. It is Queensland's official state floral emblem and is prized for its arching sprays of lilac, mauve, purple, and white butterfly-shaped flowers. A popular choice for orchid enthusiasts and tropical gardens worldwide.

Pink Rock Orchid

Dendrobium kingianum

Dendrobium kingianum, commonly known as the Pink Rock Orchid, is a native Australian orchid that grows naturally on rocky cliff faces and outcrops along the eastern coast. It produces clusters of delicate pink, white, or purple flowers from late winter to spring, making it one of the most beloved cool-growing orchids for Australian gardeners and collectors worldwide.

Sekkoku Orchid

Dendrobium moniliforme

Dendrobium moniliforme, known in Japan as Sekkoku and in Korea as Seokgok, is a compact epiphytic orchid native to cool, high-elevation forests of Japan, Korea, and China. Slender, cane-like pseudobulbs bear small clusters of fragrant white flowers with a yellow-green lip in late winter and spring. For centuries it has been cultivated as a prized ornamental in East Asia, admired for its resilience and delicate blooms rather than showy size.

Noble Dendrobium

Dendrobium nobile

Dendrobium nobile is a stunning deciduous orchid native to the Himalayan foothills and Southeast Asia, prized for its abundant fragrant flowers that bloom along mature canes in late winter to early spring. This sympodial orchid produces clusters of stout pseudobulbs that can reach up to 60cm in height, adorned with beautiful blooms in shades of white, pink, purple, and yellow. Popular as both an indoor and outdoor plant in warm climates, it requires a cool winter rest period to trigger flowering.

Rock Orchid

Dendrobium speciosum

Medium 💧 4 days ☀️ Partial shade

Dendrobium speciosum, commonly known as the Rock Orchid or King Orchid, is a large epiphytic and lithophytic orchid native to eastern Australia. It grows naturally on rocks and tree trunks, producing robust pseudobulbs up to 45 cm long. In late winter to early spring, it produces spectacular arching sprays of white to creamy-yellow flowers with purple-spotted labellums and a soft honey fragrance.

Queen Victoria's Dendrobium

Dendrobium victoriae-reginae

Dendrobium victoriae-reginae, known as Queen Victoria's dendrobium, is a striking epiphytic orchid endemic to the high-elevation cloud forests of the Philippines, found on Luzon, Mindanao, Mindoro, Negros, and Camiguin. It grows among oaks, rhododendrons, and azaleas at 1,300 to 2,700 meters elevation, where cool temperatures and near-constant moisture prevail. Its pendulous, cane-like stems are basally branching and swollen at the nodes, bearing papery, lance-shaped leaves. Short, erect racemes carry one to three flowers in variable shades of lilac to deep violet-blue, among the most prized colors in the genus.

Fringed Star Orchid

Epidendrum ciliare

Medium 💧 7 days ☀️ Direct sun

Epidendrum ciliare, commonly known as the Fringed Star Orchid, is a stunning epiphytic orchid native to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. It grows on trees and rocky outcrops in humid forests at elevations of 500–1000 metres. The plant produces elongated cylindrical pseudobulbs 10–20 cm long, topped with 1–2 glossy, oblong leaves. Its star-shaped flowers are renowned for their finely fringed white labellum and elegant greenish-yellow sepals and petals, blooming typically in winter. This long-cultivated species is a favourite among orchid enthusiasts for its dramatic, fragrant blooms and relative ease of care.

Beach Crucifix Orchid

Epidendrum fulgens

Epidendrum fulgens is a terrestrial crucifix orchid native to the restinga (coastal scrubland) of southern and southeastern Brazil, from Rio de Janeiro to Rio Grande do Sul. It forms robust clumps of cane-like pseudobulbs and produces upright flower spikes bearing dozens of brilliant orange-yellow, non-resupinate flowers with red spots on the lip. The species is remarkably tolerant of full sun, strong coastal winds, and salt spray.

Jamieson's Epidendrum

Epidendrum jamiesonis

Medium 💧 5 days ☀️ Bright indirect

Epidendrum jamiesonis is a large, reed-stemmed terrestrial-to-epiphytic orchid native to the cool cloud forests of Colombia and Ecuador, found on trees and slopes between 1,700 and 3,500 meters elevation. Its sturdy cane-like stems carry evergreen leaves and terminate in showy inflorescences packed with numerous small, star-shaped flowers roughly 2.5 cm across. Unlike many orchids tied to a single bloom season, it can flower at almost any time of year given consistent moisture and bright light. First described by Reichenbach in 1856 and named for the Scottish botanist William Jamieson, who collected extensively in Ecuador, the species is now considered vulnerable in the wild due to habitat loss, making cultivated specimens valuable for ex-situ conservation.

Chinese Crown Orchid

Eulophia graminea

Medium 💧 5 days ☀️ Partial shade

Eulophia graminea, commonly known as Chinese Crown Orchid or Grass-leaf Eulophia, is a terrestrial orchid native to South and Southeast Asia. It produces grass-like leaves from pseudobulbs and sends up tall flower spikes bearing small green and brownish-purple blooms in spring. Though elegant in its native habitat, this species has become invasive in Florida, spreading rapidly through diverse ecosystems via dust-like seeds and wood chip mulch.

Spotted Eulophia

Eulophia maculata

Eulophia maculata, widely known by its synonym Oeceoclades maculata, is a terrestrial orchid native to tropical Africa, including Madagascar and Mauritius. Commonly called the Spotted Eulophia or Monk Orchid, it is one of the most successfully naturalized orchids in the world, now found throughout the Neotropics, Caribbean, and Florida. It grows in leaf litter and rocky scrub slopes up to 1200m elevation, producing mottled evergreen leaves and delicate white to pink flowers in late summer and fall.

Dancing-lady orchid

Gomesa bifolia

Medium 💧 6 days ☀️ Partial shade

Gomesa bifolia (synonym Oncidium bifolium) is a small epiphytic orchid native to riparian forests and high-altitude woodlands of southern Brazil (Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul), as well as Bolivia, Uruguay, and Argentina, occurring at altitudes between 100 and 1,300 m. It forms clustered ovoid pseudobulbs, from which usually a single linear-elongated leaf grows (rarely two). Between late winter and early spring, it produces arched flower spikes up to 35 cm long with several small flowers (2 to 2.5 cm), featuring yellow sepals and petals spotted with brown and a smooth, showy yellow lip, which are sometimes fragrant.

Orange Cattleya

Guarianthe aurantiaca

Medium 💧 9 days ☀️ Bright indirect

Guarianthe aurantiaca, commonly known as the Orange Cattleya, is a compact epiphytic orchid native to the tropical and montane forests of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. It forms clumps of slender cane-like pseudobulbs topped with a pair of leathery, evergreen leaves, and produces clusters of two to eleven small, vividly orange (occasionally yellow) flowers from late winter through spring. Once classified as a Cattleya, this species is now placed in the genus Guarianthe alongside close relatives such as G. skinneri and G. bowringiana.

Laelia Orchid

Laelia

Laelia is a genus of epiphytic orchids in the family Orchidaceae, native to Mexico, Central America and the mountainous highlands of Brazil. Species form elongated pseudobulbs that store water and nutrients, each bearing one to a few leathery leaves and an upright spike of showy pink, purple or white flowers. Closely related to Cattleya, Laelia orchids are prized by growers for their toughness and spectacular blooms.

Rosy Tinted Laelia

Laelia rubescens