{"id":25743,"date":"2016-08-14T21:45:58","date_gmt":"2016-08-15T05:45:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/?p=25743"},"modified":"2017-01-01T19:21:25","modified_gmt":"2017-01-02T03:21:25","slug":"the-tiniest-orchid-flowers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/2016\/08\/14\/the-tiniest-orchid-flowers\/","title":{"rendered":"The Tiniest Orchid Flowers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This isn&#8217;t just a miniature orchid &#8212; it&#8217;s a micro orchid! When we went to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/2016\/07\/25\/orchids-in-the-park-2016\/\">Orchids in the Park<\/a> a couple weeks ago, nobody was expecting to see one of the tiniest orchid flowers in the world. Dave didn&#8217;t have his macro lens, but he did pretty well with his regular camera. This mini Platystele flower is only 0.1 inch (2.5 mm) across! For a little perspective, that&#8217;s about the size of a flea, or the head of a pin.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_4_800px.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-25753 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_4_800px-128x96.jpg\" alt=\"Platystele jungermannioides, miniature orchid species, Pleurothallid, one of the tiniest orchid flowers, Orchids in the Park 2016, San Francisco, California\" width=\"128\" height=\"96\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_4_800px-128x96.jpg 128w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_4_800px-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_4_800px-768x576.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_4_800px.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 128px) 100vw, 128px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_1_800px.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-25750 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_1_800px-96x128.jpg\" alt=\"Platystele jungermannioides, miniature orchid species flower and buds, Pleurothallid, one of the tiniest orchid flowers, Orchids in the Park 2016, San Francisco, California\" width=\"96\" height=\"128\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_1_800px-96x128.jpg 96w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_1_800px-225x300.jpg 225w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_1_800px.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 96px) 100vw, 96px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_2_800px.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-25751 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_2_800px-128x128.jpg\" alt=\"Platystele jungermannioides, miniature orchid species flower and buds, Pleurothallid, one of the tiniest orchid flowers, Orchids in the Park 2016, San Francisco, California\" width=\"128\" height=\"128\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_2_800px-128x128.jpg 128w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_2_800px-300x300.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_2_800px-768x768.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_2_800px.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 128px) 100vw, 128px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>This <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/2013\/09\/17\/pleurothallids\/\">Pleurothallid<\/a>, Platystele jungermannioides, isn&#8217;t even as big as its name. For comparison, the entire plant is smaller than a US dime, which is about 0.7 inches (17 mm) across. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.orchidplantcare.info\/miniature-orchids\/\" target=\"_blank\">This species was thought to have the tiniest orchid flowers, but a species with smaller flowers was discovered in 2006<\/a>. This is certainly one of the tiniest orchid flowers Dave has ever photographed, and he&#8217;s tackled miniatures like <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/2009\/12\/07\/trichosalpinx\/\">Trichosalpinx<\/a> and many more. Contrast these micro orchids with floral giants like <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/2011\/03\/08\/phragmidpedium-kovachii-aka-pk\/\">a 9 inch (23 cm) PK<\/a> or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/2012\/05\/15\/lady-slippers\/\">a 2 \u00bd foot (76 cm) Phrag<\/a>, These size differences again demonstrate the incredible diversity of the orchid world.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_plant_next_to_dime_800px.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-25755 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_plant_next_to_dime_800px-128x128.jpg\" alt=\"Platystele jungermannioides, miniature orchid species plant with flowers mounted on cork, next to a US dime for size comparison, Pleurothallid, one of the tiniest orchid flowers, Orchids in the Park 2016, San Francisco, California\" width=\"128\" height=\"128\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_plant_next_to_dime_800px-128x128.jpg 128w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_plant_next_to_dime_800px-300x300.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_plant_next_to_dime_800px-768x768.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_plant_next_to_dime_800px.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 128px) 100vw, 128px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_plant_800px.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-25754 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_plant_800px-96x128.jpg\" alt=\"Platystele jungermannioides, miniature orchid species plant mounted on cork, leaves and roots growing with moss, Pleurothallid, one of the tiniest orchid flowers, Orchids in the Park 2016, San Francisco, California\" width=\"96\" height=\"128\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_plant_800px-96x128.jpg 96w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_plant_800px-225x300.jpg 225w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_plant_800px.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 96px) 100vw, 96px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_3_800px.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-25752 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_3_800px-96x128.jpg\" alt=\"Platystele jungermannioides, miniature orchid species flower and buds, Pleurothallid, one of the tiniest orchid flowers, Orchids in the Park 2016, San Francisco, California\" width=\"96\" height=\"128\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_3_800px-96x128.jpg 96w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_3_800px-225x300.jpg 225w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Platystele_jungermannioides_3_800px.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 96px) 100vw, 96px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This isn&#8217;t just a miniature orchid &#8212; it&#8217;s a micro orchid! When we went to Orchids in the Park a couple weeks ago, nobody was expecting to see one of the tiniest orchid flowers in the world. Dave didn&#8217;t have his macro lens, but he did pretty well with his regular camera. This mini Platystele [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,6,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mini-orchids","category-photos","category-warm-growers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25743"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25785,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25743\/revisions\/25785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}