Lepanthes platysepala

I purchased this plant as Lepanthes pilosella (Neooreophilus pilosellum) from Orquídeas del Valle.  But it turned out to be Lepanthes platysepala, instead.  L. platysepala was originally described by Luer and Escobar in 1994 (link to the original illustration, Luer 1994). It belongs to subgenus Brachycladium which contains about 38 species (Archila and Higgins 2008).  The subgenus is characterized by the pendulous growth habit, short ramicaulis, and petals not lobed.  In the past, this subgenus was proposed to be separated to genus Brachycladium (Luer 2005), Oreophilus (Archila and Higgins 2008) or Neooreophilus.

This species is frequently confused with L. pilosella, and the original description (Luer 1994, link) mentioned the differences between the two species: L. pilosella: concave, stripped dorsal sepal, L. platysepala: flatter and more open dorsal sepal with dots.  It is interesting that in some photos of L. pilosella, the lip enclosing the column is more open than others.  Luer (1994) metioned the variabilty of the lip shape in both species.

It is found in Department of Antioquia, Colombia at elevation around 1920m (Viveros and Higgins 2007, Archila and Higgins 2008).

I have been growing it in cool/cold environment (described at the bottom of this post, but I raised the day time temperature to 22C in September 2016).  It might do better with a little bit warmer condition.  It is located at a fairly shady location.

Note that the lip forms a tube-like structure and the column is inside of the lip tube.  The two sticks are the petals, which aren't lobed like some other Lepanthes.

Literature cited:
Archila, F.  and W. E. Higgins 2008. Oreophilus: A new Genus in the Pleurothallidinae Lindl. (Orchidaceae). Selbyana 29 (2): 202-208. (pdf)
Luer, C. A. 1994. Icones Pleurothallidinarum XI: Systematics of Lepanthes subgenus Brachycladium and Pleurothallis subgenus Aenigma, subgenus Elongatia, subgenus Kraenzlinella. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 52: 36-38. (text)
Luer, C. A. 2005 Icones Pleurothallidinarum XXVII.  Monographs in Systematic Botany From the Missouri Botanical Garden 103: 307-308.
Viveros, P. and W. E. Higgins. 2007. Checklist of Pleurothallidinae from Colombia. Selbyana 28(1): 13-90. (pdf)