Lepanthes tsubotae Luer & R. Escobar 1993 SUBGENUS Lepanthes SECTION Lepanthes SUBSECTION Lepanthes SERIES Lepanthes
Photo by © Lourens Grobler
Photo courtesy of Eric Hunt ©
Photo courtesy of © Mike Grauer
TYPE Drawing by © Carl Luer and Orquideología 19(1): 29-30. Luer & Escobar 1993
LATE 
EARLY
Common Name Tsubota Lepanthes [Named in honor of Shigenobu Tsubota of Pereira, Colombia, who discovered this species.]
Flower Size .4" [1 cm]
Found in Valle de Cauca department of Colombia at elevations around 1950 meters as a supermini-miniature, cool growing epiphyte with very short, erect ramicauls carrying a single, erect, elliptic, obtuse, abruptly narrows below into the base leaf that blooms in the late winter and early spring with a large sized flower for the size of the plant on a .84" [2.1 cm] long including the .6" [1.5 cm] long peduncle, successively single, several flowered inflorescence exceeding the leaf in length with echinate floral bracts.
"This miniscule species is distinguished by the inflorescence exceeding the leaf in length held in a dense, successively single flowered raceme and carrying a red, flat, comparitively very large, flower almost as large as the leaf. The sepals are broad, obtuse and contracted into short, fine tails. The petals are diamond shaped becasue the are formed of 2 isoceles-triangular lobes The lip lamina Las láminas of the lip have a slight concavity under a narrow-obtuse apex. The narrow connectives, the thick pubescent appendix and the apical anther is comparitively large and protruding." Luer & Escobar 1993
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Orquideología 19(1): 29-30. Luer & Escobar 1993 photo/drawing fide; Native Colombian Orchids Vol 5 COS 1994 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 71 #7 2002 photo fide; Australian Orchid Review Vol 68 No 5 2003 photo; Orquideologia Vol 25 #1 2007 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 80 #6 2011 photo fide; Icones Pleurothallidinarum Vol XXXII Luer 2012 drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 86 #4 2017 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 83 #3 2019 photo fide; Orchids, A Colombian Treasure Vol 3 Ortiz & Uribe 2019 drawing/photo fide;
Checked type Drawing W3Tropicos Exact Match
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
