When someone mentions the word "orchid," the imagination conjures up images of large, colorful or even gaudy blossoms that ooze exoticism and sensuality. But Orchidaceae is one of the largest and most diverse families of flowering plants, with nearly 30,000 species. Those big, showy flowers represent only a fraction of that diversity.
I admit that my taste in orchids is peculiar. I'm not particularly attracted to the in-your-face display of, say, a
Cattleya. It's the kind of flower that commands attention, a botanical prima donna. It's also the kind of flower that seems to cater to our own vanity, a flower fit for human consumption. Instead, I'm attracted to tiny, weird, and easily overlooked flowers. The kind that force us to bend, twist, and squint to get a good view. The kind that hide fascinating tales of evolution within their petals. There's something humbling about having to make a physical or intellectual effort to appreciate a tiny flower. So to satisfy my curiosity, I've developed quite a collection of miniature and "micro-miniature" orchids, mostly Pleurothallids. Many of them bloom continuously, others bloom in flushes depending on the season. Here are a few, in no particular order:
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| Pleurothallis alata |
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| Barbosella dusenii |
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| Pleurothallis palliolata. I love the way these flowers look like frogs or aliens. |
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| Stelis microchila. These flowers are truly tiny and hard to appreciate with the naked eye. |
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| Salpistele brunnea |
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| Stelis argentata |
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| Lepanthopsis astrophora |
