Lepanthes elegantula Schlechter 1915 SECTION Lepanthes SUBSECTION Lepanthes SERIES Elongatae 1993
Photos courtesy of Danny Lentz ©, plant grown by the Atlanta Botanical Garden
Photo by © Milan Vagner
Comparison with L pastoensis on bottom
Photos by Jay Pfahl ©
Photos by Arturo Carrilo ©
TYPE drawing by © Carl Luer
to 
Common Name The Most Elegant Lepanthes
Flower Size .2" [5 mm]
Found in Ecuador in cloud forests at elevations of 2800 to 3300 meters as a miniature sized, cold growing epiphyte with erect, slender ramicauls enveloped basally by 5 to 8, minutely scabrous, lepanthiform sheaths and carrying a single, apical, erect, coriaceous, elliptical, obtuse leaf with the base cuneate into the petiole, that is always in spike or bloom on a loose, strict, successively several flowered, 2 to 2/5" [5 to 6 cm] long, racemose inflorescence. This species is very similar to L capiteana except that this species flowers and leaves are much larger.
Lepanthes capitana is seemingly a miniature version of this species, with flowers and plant at about 1/2 the size, a loose, strict rachis and larger, bilabiate flowers with minute sepals about .68" [1.7 cm] long with free apices of the lateral sepals.
Also can be confused with L pastoensis but differs mostly in the petals.
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
Icones Pleurothallidinarum Vol XIV Systematics of Draconanthes, Lepanthes subgenus Marsipanthes and subgenus Lepanthes of Ecuador Luer 1996 drawing fide;
Flora of Ecuador No 88 Lepanthes and affiliates Dodson & Luer 2011 drawing fide;
Orchids A Colombian Treasure Vol 3 Ortiz & Uribe 2019 drawing/photo fide;
Checked Luer's Drawing
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