Tangled flea orchid,

Description

Schoenorchis micrantha, commonly known as the tangled flea orchid, is a small epiphytic orchid that forms small, tangled clumps and has thin stems, many linear leaves and up to thirty small, white, bell-shaped flowers. It is found from Indochina to the south-west Pacific. Schoenorchis micrantha is a small epiphytic herb that forms small, tangled clumps. It has thin, curved, twisted, branched stems 30–150 mm (1–6 in) long and many thick, curved fleshy, linear leaves 30–60 mm (1.2–2.4 in) long and 2.5 mm (0.1 in) wide. Between five and thirty densely crowded, tube-shaped to bell-shaped white flowers, about 2 mm (0.079 in) long and 1.5 mm (0.059 in) wide are arranged on a flowering stem 10–30 mm (0.4–1 in) long. The sepals are about 2 mm (0.079 in) long and 1 mm (0.039 in) wide whilst the petals are about 2 mm (0.079 in) long and 1.5 mm (0.059 in) wide. The labellum is about 2.5 mm (0.1 in) long with three lobes. The side lobes are short and erect and the middle lobe is short with a short spur. Flowering occurs between April and July. The tangled flea orchid grows on mangroves and rainforest trees in humid, well lit places. It is found in Thailand, Vietnam, Borneo, Java, the Lesser Sunda Islands, Peninsular Malaysia, the Philippines, Sumatra, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Queensland, Fiji, New Caledonia, Samoa and Vanuatu. In Queensland it is found between the Iron Range and the Tully River. Schoenorchis micrantha was first formally described in 1825 by Carl Ludwig Blume from an unpublished description by Caspar Reinwardt and the description was published in Bijdragen tot de flora van Nederlandsch Indië. The specific epithet (micrantha) is derived from the Ancient Greek words mikros meaning "small" or "little"  and anthos meaning "flower". Schoenorchis, commonly known as flea orchids, or (chi chun lan shu), is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Plants in this genus are small epiphytes with thin roots, thin leafy stems with leaves in two ranks and tiny fragrant, almost tube-shaped flowers with a prominently spurred labellum. There are about twenty five species found from tropical and subtropical Asia to the Western Pacific. Orchids in the genus Schoenorchis are small epiphytic, monopodial herbs with thin roots, sometimes with branching stems and flat to almost cylindrical leaves with their bases sheathing the thin, fibrous stems.