These Smallest Orchid Flower Varieties prove that beauty comes in all sizes! You should definitely try growing some (maybe all)!
Have you ever seen an orchid shorter than your fingernail? Well, you’re about to! We’ve got a list of the smallest orchid flower varieties that come in all sorts of wild colors and shapes. Let us take a look!
Smallest Orchid Flower Varieties
1. Platystele Jungermannioides
Botanical Name: Platystele jungermannioides
This orchid is one of the smallest in the world, with flowers barely reaching 2-3 millimeters in size—the same size as the tip of a toothpick! American botanist Lou Jost accidentally discovered these tiny, yellowish, almost translucent blooms in Ecuador.
You can find them in damp tree barks of Central and South America, as that is the plant’s native habitat.
2. Pleurothallis minutissima
Botanical Name: Pleurothallis minutissima
Pleurothallis minutissima is a bonnet orchid variety with flowers that are just 1-2 millimeters across, so keep your magnifying glasses ready!
The greenish flowers bloom in late winter or early spring and perfectly camouflage with rocky surroundings or tree trunks.
3. Telipogon-like Lepanthes
Botanical Name: Lepanthes telipogoniflora
You just can’t miss this one when talking about the smallest orchid flowers. The blooms of this variety can easily be identified by their disc-like form and small size; they look somewhat like mini morning glories and usually range between 5 millimeters and 1 cm in diameter. Pretty cute, right?
4. Silvery Stelis
Botanical Name: Stelis argentata
With flowers less than 2 millimeters, the silvery stelis deserves a spot on this list! Its star-like blooms with hairy petals grow in tight clusters and are easier to notice.
But do not think that its petite size hampers its use in nature. You can find it in both white and purple colors
5. Red Bead Orchid
Botanical Name: Bulbophyllum minutissimum
Due to their uncanny resemblance, the blooms of the red bead orchid are almost impossible to differentiate from those of the grains of wheat. These flowers have pale white petals but distinct red stripes on them and only reach 2-4 millimeters in size.
These are epiphytic orchids, which means they grow on trees.
6. Bristley Oberonia
Botanical Name: Oberonia setigera
Don’t be scared if you see a centipede-like form growing between the reddish leaves of this orchid variety. This is a terminal, pendant inflorescence covered in tiny reddish-orange flowers, each less than 2 millimeters wide.
In the wild, these orchids grow on trees in tropical Asia, but you can show them off in pots and hanging baskets at home.
7. Round-leaved Trichosalpinx
Botanical Name: Trichosalpinx rotundata
Here’s another Bonnet orchid species that’s one of the smallest flowers in the world (about 3-4 millimeters in size). The blooms are yellow-green with a soft, translucent texture, which makes them almost invisible in their natural habitat.
If you pay close attention, you will notice that this orchid’s leaves are almost perfectly round, which helps it retain moisture in dry conditions.
8. Hedgehog Masdevallia
Botanical Name: Masdevallia erinacea
Want an orchid with cute minuscule fuzzy blooms? Then Masdevallia erinacea are the ones to go for! In fact, this variety gets its name due to the hedgehog-like texture of its yellow or maroon flowers.
The blooms of this orchid are slightly larger than most other varieties and can reach over 1 cm–that’s still incredibly small.
9. Schoenorchis tixieri
Botanical Name: Schoenorchis tixieri
Schoenorchis tixieri is a miniature epiphytic orchid prized for its compact size and delicate beauty. Native to Southeast Asia, particularly Vietnam, it produces clusters of minuscule, often pale pink or white flowers, each typically measuring only 5-7 millimeters. How cool is that?!
