Zygostates multiflora

Zygostates multiflora is a micro-miniature orchid species from Brazil that belongs to a group of related orchids known as the Ornithocephalinae, the Bird's-Head orchids.  The best known genus in this group is the genus Ornithocephalus, a genus of small fan shaped plants with numerous tiny white flowers.

This species is 4-5 cm tall with 10 cm flower spikes and tiny, .5 cm, white flowers with a green spot on the tip of the lip.  The flowers are very complex in shape and in spite of being so small put on a good show since the species flowers profusely when grown well.  My plant is grown on a small moss-covered mount.

Platyrhiza quadricolor

Platyrhiza quadricolor is micro-miniature species from Brazil, the only species in its genus.  The plant is only 4 cm tall with tiny pea-shaped pseudobulbs and the flowers are 1 cm in size, carried six to eight flowers on a semi-pendant flower spike.  The species name means "four-colored," an apt description of the green, yellow, white and purple flowers.  The plant belong to the Ornithocephalinae, a family of mostly miniature species, many from Brazil.  This is species, however, is more colorful than many others in the family which tend to come in shades of green and white.

Ornithocephalus cochleariformis

I purchased this as Ornithocephalus gladiatus which it definitely is not.  I am reasonably certain that I now have the ID correct, however.  The plant is around 10 cm and grows in a tight fan.  The flower spikes come from between the leaves and stand erect above the plant.  They are 7-8 cm long with flowers that are between 5 and 10 mm.  The plant blooms reliably every spring and is one of the few Ornithocephalus that I do not have trouble with, mostly because my conditions are too cool for them.

The name Ornithocephalus means "Bird's Head" and refers to the shape of the column.  There are approximately 20 species in the genus, though there seems to be a great deal of confusion about the different species and I see many plants and photos that are mislabeled.  They are all desirable for the abundance of blooms they produce even though the individual flowers may be very small.  A well grown plant can be completely covered with flowers, usually in white or a combination of white and green.

Zygostates multiflora

This miniature species belong to a group of orchids known as the Ornithocephalinae, all of them related to the "Bird's Head" orchids in the genus Ornithocephalus.  This species, as is the case with many other in the group, is from Brazil.  Its name is appropriate since it is indeed "many-flowered."  The plant itself is 3 cm tall with tiny psuedobulbs and leaves.  The flower spikes are 15 cm long and bear numerous, white, 5 mm flowers that are very intricate and have a shiny green tip to the column.

Chytroglossa aurata

This tiny species represents everything I love about miniature orchids.  Viewed closely the flowers are amazing in their colors and in their intricacy, in this case a combination of green, yellow and brown, of spots and fringes, and arranged in rather unusual pendant, downward-facing fashion on zig-zag spikes.

The plants are 5-6 cm tall, the flowers slightly less than 2 cm and the spikes, carrying up to 10 flowers are 12 cm in length.  The species is from Brazil and belongs to a genus that includes only a few other species, which are very similar to this. 

This little orchid belongs to a family known as the Ornithocephalinae, which includes the better known genus, Ornithocephalus.  That genus has mostly white and green flowers, and so the flowers of this little species provide a welcome change in color.