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.

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.

Promenaea stapelioides

Promenaea stapelioides is a miniature, cool-temperature species from Brazil.  In fact, all the species in this genus are from Brazil.  The species name refers to a genus of succulents whose flowers these are supposed to resemble.  The plant is 8 cm tall with 4 cm flowers that are semi-pendant.  My plant is grown in live sphagnum moss in a plastic net pot.

Promenaea xanthina 'Botanica'

Promenaea is a relatively unknown genus of orchids from Brazil.  The different species in the genus are all small, produce 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 when happy.

Promenaea stapelioides

The Promenaeas are all cool growing, lower light species from Brazil.  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, small pseudobulbs and large 4 cm flowers.  I grow it in live sphagnum in a plastic net pot and keep it moist with high humidity.

Promenaea xanthina

All the Promenaea species are miniatures and all are from Brazil.  They are small plants with large flowers and worth growing if one can provide cooler temperatures and good humidity.  One of the more brightly colored species is Promenaea xanthina with its beautiful yellow flowers.  The plant is only 6-8 cm tall with small flattened pseudobulbs and soft, pale green foliage.  The flowers are 4-5 cm in size and make a good display if happy.

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Promenaea stapelioides

This is a miniature species from Brazil belonging to a very small genus  of 15-20 species.  Its specific name reflects the similarity of the flowers to those of a Stapelia, a South African succulent.  The plant is 8 cm tall and has small pseudobulbs and soft leaves.  It prefers cool temperatures and high humidity but when these requirements are met it is not a difficult plant to grow or flower.  The flowers are 3.5 cm and their green and purple colors make them a real showstopper.

Promenaea xanthina

Promenaea xanthina is small species from Brazil that belong to a small genus of similar-looking plants. This plant is only 6-8 cm tall with small flattened pseudobulbs and soft, pale green foliage. The plant prefers cool temepratures, good humidity, a lot of moisture and lower light and when happy produces an abundance of flowers in the late spring and early summer. The flowers are 4-5 cm in size and make a good display.

Promenaea stapelioides 'Ozone'

Both my Promenaea species were in bloom recently, this and the species shown in the previous post.  That species is more beautiful, this more interesting, in my opinion.  Like the other, this is from Brazil and has a similar growth habit, so much so that it would be difficult to tell them apart when they are not blooming.

The plant is 10-12 cm and the flowers are 5 cm and are produced singly or in pairs on semi-pendant stems about 5 cm long.  For that reason the plant is best grown in a small basket or a net pot.  I grow mine in a net pot in live sphagnum moss and give it rather low light and cool conditions with good air movement.

The species name of this plant, stapelioides, was given on account of the flowers' resemblance to the flowers of the genus of succulents, Stapelia, with their fleshy star-shaped flowers.  The purple, almost black color of these flowers is especially reminiscent of those succulent flowers.

Promenaea xanthina 'Botanica'

Promenaea xanthina is a miniature orchid from Brazil that produces an abundance of lovely yellow flowers when well grown.  It belongs to a genus of about fourteen species, all from Brazil.  The plant have angled pseudobulbs and soft greyish-green leaves, two per pseudobulb.  The flowers are produced from the base of the pseudobulbs and the plants generally prefer cool temperatures.

My plant of this species is 8-10 cm tall and the flowers are 5 cm in size, a bright clear yellow with some spotting at the base of the lip and column.  They open widely and have a very typical "orchid" shape.  My plant blooms in early summer and is grown in a plastic net pot and live sphagnum and seem to bloom best when the plant is undisturbed and beginning to overflow its pot.

Promenaea stapelioides

This orchid species is from Brazil and gets its species name from its resemblance to the flowers of the succulent, Stapelia.  It is a miniature, growing only about 10 cm tall with a pendant inflorescence carrying single, or occasionally double, 3 cm flowers.

The plant is cool-growing and the flowers are fragrant.  It grows well for me under lights with Masdevallias, other Pleurothallids, and New Guinea Dendrobiums.  It is usually readily available to hobbyists and highly recommended for those who love miniature orchids.