Perhaps this is of interest here:
http://www.orchidboard.com/Ornithocephalus-birds-head-Exquisite-Miniatures
and miniatures show and tell:
http://www.orchidboard.com/community/miniatures-show-tell/
Show me your Mini and Small Orchids :)
Oh yes, Ornithocephallus so pretty in bloom. The Trichosalpinx is great looking Goth. Robert, small Vandas are usually good for home collections.
Stu, I've got no minis in bloom right now, but here's my share. These are in two inch pots.
Tolumnia Golden Sunset 'Paprika Dust'
Tolumnia Golden Sunset 'Waimao' AM/AOS
Tolumnia Ralph Yagi 'Palolo' Am/AOS
Ive got Ascocentrum curvifolum which bloomed in May/June. This may be considered a compact and not a mini.
Here's the plant in a 3" basket as of today.
Here is Brassavola nodosa in the 3" pot (far left), Epidendrum longicaule (to the front and left) Brassovola cordata (rear right) and my long-suffering Cattleya aurantiaca that, between winter power outages and summer squirrels, might never know life beyond a two inch pot. lol I'll mount the Brassavolas next spring. You can see B. nodosa is wanting to climb. I think Brassavolas may also be considered compact rather than true minis.
Laurel... Glad to see that Brassovola has minis as they are one of my favorites. Thanks.
Stu, I didn't mean to imply that Brassovola has minis, only that a couple were considered compact by some grower standards. My paltry, two year old specimen, which is about to bloom two or three flowers, is not to be compared to this one at the Atlanta Botanical Garden (sigh).
Would this Ornithophora radicans be considered a compact mini?
...or this cute little Angraecum.
Robert, I'm not knowledgeable about orchid size classifications. I'd guess that the orchid must be a certain percentage smaller than its relatives. That is a cute Angraecum. Though small, it also looks young. It will be outstanding when more mature.
For those wanting to learn about orchids in general "Ornitho" means the orchid has a bird-like form. If you see that name attached to the beginning of a named orchid you'll know to look for a bird-like position. "Phora" is Greek for motion or in motion. The "phora" in Ornithophora is probably a reference to the orchid's look of a bird in motion. See it? So sometimes those weird orchid names make perfect sense. :)
Laurel
WOW........ your Ornithophora does look like a bird Robert. Going to have to keep and eye out for one. Thanks Laurel for the info.
Mine has a couple of spikes. It's a super mini! Here'a an old pic in a 3" pot.
This is a small flowering species Laurel, there are some Angreacums with even smaller flowers!
Richard.
I apologize for calling you "Robert" when you are Richard. So sorry.
My question is this...what and who defines mini or compact? Is there an accepted compendium somewhere? Is it the leaves? The flowers? Is it relatively arbitrary? Stu started an interesting thread worthy of further exploration. People here, who are not necessarily very experienced, may have orchids to share. How do they know if their orchids are mini or compact? Your Angreacums are a perfect example. Some are larger leaved with small flowers and some are smaller leaved with larger flowers.
Digging a bit in the Orchidboard.com link from October 13.
http://www.orchidboard.com/community/styles-setups-enclosures/
scroll to Miniatures Show and Tell
"Showcase your miniature orchids (not to exceed 15cm / 6in excl. inflorescence). "
I was hoping you guys would adore the 10!! pages of miniature Orchids and the wonderful article in the first link I had posted that same day. I did.
also
http://www.osrbg.ca/ShowRulesAndRegs.htm
scroll down to/almost at the bottom of the page
"NOTE: Miniature is defined as naturally occurring diminutive plants in flower not exceeding 6 inches in growth excluding inflorescence. "
Hope that helps,
Ursula
Duly noted. I had looked at the Show and Tell but either missed the mini criteria or thought the limitations were arbitrary on behalf of the poster. Thanks for the clarification and the second link.
I hope this little one is not to big! Pteroceras seniteretifolium.
Stelis ciliolata is spiking and flowering right now.
the leaves measure 3 - 4 inches and the blooms are less than a cm. in size
The spikes are very cute.
Richard, definately NOT too big. Great loking flowers. Have been thinking of trying some mounted plats, just don't know how they'll do outside when I don't water frequently and not in a greenhouse. Went to a sale this weekend at a nursery and spoke to one guy who does as I do... neglect with the sprinklers coming on once weekly during normal watering of the yard.... and he has no issues with his mounted plants. Almost got an ornithophora as well when there, but then saw one with blooms and decided to wait until I saw a variety with a flower I liked better.
Ursula, really like the spikes and the coloring of the Stelis flowers. How interesting.