This lovely little gem is blooming again – or perhaps I should say “large” as the flower measures almost 1 cm which is rather large for Lepanthes. The flamboyant purple-striped flower is hanging precariously on a nearly impossibly thin inflorescence that blooms several times in succession. This one started blooming last summer and bloomed all through winter and is now going at it again after only a couple of months rest. A nice characteristic of this genus… once they start blooming they seem to just go and go and go on forever.
Lepanthes caprimulgus originates from the cool cloud forests of Ecuador and northeastern to central Peru where it grows at elevations of 1600 to 2330 meters. The species was found by Janet Kuhn and according to Luer all plants in cultivation apparently descend from her original collection. Mine comes from Peruflora and I grow it mounted on EpiWeb in the cool vivarium, quite bright and humid.
