Laelia liliputana Pabst 1973 SUBGENUS Parviflorae SECTION Liliputinae Withner 1990
Photo courtesy of Andy's Orchids Copyright © 2002 All rights reserved.
Photo by Sandra Hardy
Photo by © Denis Duveen
Plant in situ - Alto do Ouro Branco, Minas Gerais, Brazil 1350 meters
Photos by © Jay Pfahl
and 
Common Name The Dwarf Laelia
Flower Size .8 to " to 1.2" [2 to 3 cm]
Found in Minas Gerais state of Brazil at elevations around 1200 to 1400 meters growing under rock ledges, in small cracks and crevasses and under small vellozia bushes as a mini-miniature sized, cool growing, lithophytic plant with stiff, erect, tightly clustered, globose or oblong, purple tinged pseudobulbs carrying a single, purple tinged, stiff, ovate, fleshy leaf. The pseudobulbs are .6" [15 mm] tall and carry an apical leaf that is that tall again or less, and blooms in the spring and summer on an erect, .4" [1 cm] long sheathed inflorescence carrying a single flower held well above the plant.
Synonyms Cattleya liliputana (Pabst) Van den Berg 2008; Hoffmannseggella liliputana (Pabst) H.G. Jones 1974; Sophronitis liliputana (Pabst) C. Berg & M.W. Chase 2000
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
Orchid Digest Vol 38 no 6 1974 drawing/photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 48 No 1 1984 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 57 No 2 1988 photo fide; Cattleya and Their Relatives Vol 2 Withner 1990 photo ok; Lindleyana Vol 15 No 2 2000 as Sophronitis liliputana; Mille et Une Mini Orchideees Roguenant 2009 as Sophronitis liliputana photo ok?; AOS Bulletin Vol 80 #12 2011 as Cattleya liliputana photo fide; A Compendium of Miniature Orchid Species Parsons & Gerritsen 2013 as Cattleya liliputana photo fide
Laelia liliputana Pabst 1973 var albescens
Photo courtesy of Nelson Barbosa Machado Neto
This is a white variety that has not yet been described according to Mr Neto. One of the smallest of the Laeliinae, being less than 2 1/4" [less than 6 cm] tall when it is in full bloom! This epiphytic plant is found in Brazil and has stiff erect pseudobulbs that are 1/16" [15mm] tall and a leaf on top that is that tall again or less, and blooms on a 3/8" [1 cm] long sheathed inflorescence with a single flower held well above the plant.
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