Leptotes (orchid)

Leptotes is a genus of orchids formed by nine small species of Brazil which exist in the dry jungles of South and Southeast, and also in Paraguay or Argentina. They are small epiphytic plants of caespitific growth, that sometimes resemble little Brassavola, as they share same type of thin terete leaves, however, they are more closely related to Loefgrenianthus.

Some species of Leptotes are widely cultivaded and form showy displays when completely in bloom, yet the majority of species are not commonly found under cultivation, some are rare or even almost completely unknown. Five species have only been described after year 2000. They are not included among the orchids easiest to grow. Beside being cultivated for their ornamental value, there are records of eventual uses of the flowers and fruits of Leptotes bicolor as milk, ice cream, tea and candies aromatizers instead of Vanilla.

Distribution

The species of Leptotes are originary from Atlantic Forest of Brazil, two species also found in other countries, L. unicolor in Argentina, and L. bicolor in Paraguay, always living epiphyticaly. Three species show high degree of endemism in the south of Bahia State, these do not exist in any other places. The distribution of one species is only an assumption. The states southeastern of Brazil are the ones that present the highest level of species occurrence, however, the extreme limits of distribution range from the Serra da Jibóia chain of mountains, in Bahia, to the North of Rio Grande do Sul State.

The species of the group of wide open flowers, as Leptotes tenuis and L. pauloensis, are more frequent in in cloud mountain forests. L. bicolor is the species most spread out and adaptated both to cloud mountanin forests and to the dryer woods of plateaus above of Serra do Mar chain of Mountains. Leptotes unicolor is a plant from coller areas, above 700 meters of altitude, frequently found growing on Araucaria and Podocarpus trees in the Southern areas of Brazil.