Monday, October 1, 2012

Homalopetalum pumilio

Homalopetalum pumilio is a tiny relative of the huge Cattleyas, the smallest of which dwarf this micro-miniature plant. It is from Mexico, Central America and western South America. It has tiny pseudobulbs 5 mm tall with a leave at the top of the pseudobulb that is 8 mm long. The flowers, however, are huge for the size of the plant, 5-6 cm tall that either green or whitish-green in color. The flowers come singly on wiry inflorescences that are around 5 cm long. It is one of my favorite miniature orchids.






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6 comments:

  1. UnknownOctober 2, 2012 at 1:01 PM

    Maravilhosa
    abraços

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    1. RonOctober 2, 2012 at 5:17 PM

      Thanks once again, my friend, for your kind comments.

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  2. James StapleyOctober 2, 2012 at 1:10 PM

    Now *that* is a Cattleya people should go nuts over rather than those massive floppy things! Spectacular photography of a very lovely plant.
    Really does make me want to take the tripod out of the cupboard and do photography right!

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    1. RonOctober 2, 2012 at 5:19 PM

      Thanks for looking and commenting, James. I would certainly rather have this than the big floppy Cattleyas, but I'm biased, of course. You should try the photography. It's not that big a deal.

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  3. AnonymousDecember 23, 2012 at 11:38 PM

    I've enjoyed looking through your archives, your plants are consistently amazing. Homalopetalum pumilio also happens to be one of my favorite minis. I am curious, however; do you grow this in your Wardian case alongside all of your cool-growing species? I have grown H. pumilio with great success under high light (turned maroon) in a paludarium setup with no temperature control. Temperatures well into the 90s Fahrenheit were common for extended periods of time in summer and it always performed like a champ. I look forward to continued posts.

    Dave

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    1. RonDecember 24, 2012 at 6:41 PM

      Hi Dave,
      Thanks for looking and commenting. Appreciate the time you've taken to look and comment.

      I do grow H. pumilio with my cool minis and it seems to be quite temperature tolerant.

      It grows over a wide area of Mexico, Central and South America and that probably is the reason.

      Thanks again.

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