Lankesterella ceracifolia

This plant is tiny!  The rosette of leaves, which is itself rather unusual, is only 4 cm across and the tiny flowers are 5 mm long.  The flowers bloom three or four to a spike and bloom successively in the spring.  The species is from Argentina and Brazil and is named after a famous naturalist and orchid collector, Charles H. Lankester.

Promenaea stapelioides

The Promenaeas, a genus of around eighteen species from Brazil, are all cool growing, lower light plants with soft leaves and small pseudobulbs.  This species, my favorite, is named for its flowers' resemblance to the flowers of a Stapelia plant.  The plant is 8 cm tall with bluish-green leaves and large 4 cm flowers.  It does not bloom as prolifically as some of the other species, but the flowers are uniquely colored and patterned.  I grow it in live sphagnum in a plastic net pot and keep it moist with high humidity.

Acianthera bragae

Acianthera bragae, also known as Pleurothallis sarracenia (sarracenia = slug), is a tiny species with deeply channeled terete (pencil-like) leaves.  The leaves are 3 cm long and grow in a row on a creeping stem.  The 2 cm flowers usually come in pairs with the flowers facing each other, but occasionally as one.  The species is from Brazil.  I grow it mounted giving it cool temperatures, high humidity and good light.

Promenaea xanthina

This miniature, easy-to-grow species is from Brazil.  Like the other species in the genus it produces large flowers for the size of the plant and require cooler temperatures, high humidity and good air movement.  Promenaea xanthina is the best-known species in the genus and the most readily available.  It has 5 cm flowers on an 8 cm plant and blooms prolifically late spring to early summer when happy.

Laelia sincorana

Laelia sincorana, now reclassified as Cattleya sincorana is one of the smaller species in either Laelia or Cattleya and a real jewel.  It is from Brazil and blooms here in the spring.  The round pseudobulbs with their leaves are 10 cm tall and the flowers the same size or a bit larger.  The flower spikes emerge from within the leaves just as the leaves begin to unfold and the flowers are usually born singly, though occasionally I get two flowers from a flower spike.  I grow the plant with the highest light I can give it in cool to intermediate temperatures and mounted on a piece of tree branch.

Rauhiella brasiliensis 'Rose'

This is a micro-miniature.  The plant with its pendant flower spikes is only 5 cm.  The individual succulent leaves are 1.5 cm and the flowers are 5 mm.  The species is from Brazil and was purchased as Chytroglossa paulensis, which it is not, but when awarded a Certificate of Botanical Recognition by the American Orchid Society was identified as Rauhiella brasiliensis.

Lankesterella ceracifolia

This plant is tiny!  The rosette of leaves, which is itself rather unusual, is only 4 cm across and the tiny flowers are 5 mm long.  The flowers bloom three or four to a spike and bloom successively in the spring.  The species is from Argentina and Brazil and is named after a famous naturalist and orchid collector, Charles H. Lankester.

Pleurothallis mathildae

Pleurothallis or Trichosalpinx mathildae is a small species from Brazil.  The plant, with its paddle-shaped leaves is 7 cm tall and the flower spikes are also 7 cm long, growing from the base of the leaf.  The flowers, 6 or 7 to flower spike, are less than 1 cm.  The species is from Brazil and is easy to grow, producing its flowers in late winter or early spring.

Sophronitis acuensis

Sophronitis acuensis is from Brazil, as are all the species in the genus Sophronitis.  It has recently beeen reclassified as Cattleya acuensis, but by any name is colorful and desirable.  Its flowers are slightly smaller than the better known Sophronitis coccinea and the plant is much smaller, the individual growths only 4 cm tall, smaller than the 5 cm flowers.  My plant is mounted on a piece of cedar shingle and receives very high light.  Like the other Sophronitis species it prefers cooler temperatures.