Platystele misasiana

Platystele misasiana is another of of our favourite mini-miniature orchids.

The plants shown are in 8cm baskets and produces a multitude of little starry flowers about 2mm across from the bright green 2cm leaves. 

The species also flowers well as a small plant.

This tiny miniature is native to cloud forests in Colombia at around 2000m and enjoys a shady spot in our cloudforests glasshouse (min 12C) with heavy watering throughout the year. The flowers are amazingly long lasting generally flower from March until June with us.

We grow plants successfully in pots and baskets and expect they would do well mounted to. Plants bulk up relatively quickly so all in all a lovely little species to grow and it can become a real specimen.

We have seen several Platystele species in their natural habitats and most have been tiny miniatures but all have had charming starry flowers. One of the smallest species of orchid we have found on any of our tropical trips was this Platystele compacta in Costa Rica (below). The whole plant is less than 2cm across.