The tiny plant, discovered growing inside the root of another small orchid, is just 2.1 mm wide from petal tip to petal tip.

www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/worlds-smallest-orchid-discovered-with-petals-only-one

That's really cool! Thanks, Anne.

Jim

Teensy!

You're welcome! Happy to share.

What a tiny orchid. It is amazing that it was even found.

I'm not understanding how it can be growing INSIDE a root.

Maybe it was 'lost in translation' Anne. Could have been nestled amongst the root system? Surely it would need to get a little bit of light.

It's truly an amazing little thing, flowers look like they're made of crystal.

hope it doesn't disappear forever. it looks likes its rainforest home is under saege. I like it though really pretty flower.

I forgot that orchid roots are arboreal (is arboreal the right word?).

Sure, lots of orchids are arboreal - dwell in trees, right? And the roots are waving around in the air or twined in the bark or stuck to branches or rocks or other stuff within reach quite often, although some are terrestrial.

But I guess we should say not all orchid roots are underground, and that would explain how this tiny thing could develop within the root system of another orchid.

Amazing. One cell thick are what some moss are.

If you read the whole article, you'll see that whoever wrote the "inside the root" statement was mistaken.

Here's the direct quote from American botanist Lou Jost, who discovered the orchid. "I found it among the roots of another plant that I had collected . . . I saw that down among the roots was a tiny little plant that I realized was more interesting than the bigger orchid."

Not inside the root; among the roots.

Absolutely fascinating discovery and a beautiful little orchid to boot - even if you need a microscope to appreciate it!

I confess to skimming to get the salient bits. Gotta stop doing that.

On another note, I'm going to be paying more attention to the little bits that cling to aerial roots from now on.

Yeah, they could be pests!

Always looking for those on just about everything.

Truly amazing!

I must admit I didn't question the inside/amongst the root thing either.....
What came to my mind, was that it was perhaps growing similar to this Australian underground Orchid
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki...

Wow! There is some fascinating stuff out there that we never see. Speaks to holding your nose to the ground. The big floofy ones aren't the only flowers out there, and these don't rate photos in your average orchid book.