Lepanthes volador Luer & Hirtz 1996 SUBGENUS Lepanthes SECTION Lepanthes SUBSECTION Lepanthes SERIES Lepanthes
Photo by Lorena Paola Galarza Pasquel and her Flickr Orchid Photo Website
Photo courtesy of Eric Hunt, plant grown by Marni Turkel
TYPE by © Carl Luer
LATE 
and 
Common Name The Flying Lepanthes [refers to the flowers position held above the leaf]
Flower Size 1/12" [2mm]
Found in Ecuador in wet cloud forests at elevations around 750 to 800 meters as a miniature sized, warm growing epiphyte with erect to suberect, slender ramicauls enveloped basally by 4 to 6, microscopically ciliate-scabrous, lepanthiform sheaths and carrying a single, apical, suberect, thinly coriaceous, undulate margins, rounded apically and basally, green leaf that has brown reticulation. This orchid blooms in the late winter and spring on a congested, distichous, successively several flowered racemose inflorescence holding the flowers well above the leaf.
This plant is superficialy the same as L calodictyon but differs in it's smaller habit and the smaller flower held far above the leaf, the tail of the lower lobe of the petal is short and slender and the lip is round with rounded basal lobes that embrace the column.
Similar to the wideranging L calodictyon and sufficiently different from the following to be separate species L barbelifera, L. bibarbullata Luer, L microcalodictyon, L pantominia, L pretiosa, L salatrix L. tentacula , L. tortuosa , and the recently described species L. kayii .
L volador is distinguished by the very small habit, the very small flower protruding beyond the apex of the little round leaf, The tail of the lower lobe of the petal is short and slender and arises from near the base and the round lip has rounded basal lobes embracing the column.
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
Checked Type Drawing W3Tropicos OK
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
