Is this a Lepanthes?

[SaraJean]

So I purchased a Lepanthes calodictyon back in January. When I received it, all but one leaf had fallen off in transport and that last leaf fell off a day later. I kept an eye on it for a week, soaked it several times, and it looked pretty dead. I put it back in its Tupperware, intending on trashing it, sealed the lid and promptly forgot about it behind my coffee maker... Fast forward to the covid lockdown. I was cleaning, found this little Tupperware stashed behind the appliances and figured I could save the container for something. Except when I pulled the mount out, I noticed something growing. It’s been living in darkness and hasn’t been watered since I put it in there. I really can’t tell if this is a weed or not.

The leaves have the wavy edge to them like the calodictyon, you can also see a little bit of the tessellated pattern. The newest growth looks like what I would expect from a Lepenthes (pic with yellow circle), but the color of the leaves is off. It’s a very vibrant green, true to the pics, and I assumed it would be darker since it’s been living with zero light for the past 10 weeks. Haven’t grown this one before so maybe that’s normal? I’ve never actually looked at weeds this closely before I yank them out of my pots, so that’s where the confusion is coming in. That, and I would be flabbergasted if such a delicate little orchid could come back to life after being treated as such

Who knows? Anybody want to weigh in?

[hypostatic]

the circled thing looks like moss to me

[Afid]

I'm 90% sure it is a Lepanthes.

[SaraJean]

Originally Posted by hypostatic

the circled thing looks like moss to me

Sorry, I know that’s kind of a crappy picture. I’m 100% positive that circled bit is a new growth of some sort (weed or Lepanthes...), but it is pretty hard to see. The moss around it started to green up when found it and put it under lights. I’ll try to take a better image in the sun tomorrow with my macro lens. I was comparing that little thing to my other Lepanthes which is what got me wondering if this thing did indeed come back to life.

Originally Posted by Afid

I'm 90% sure it is a Lepanthes.

Awesome! You’re more confident than me!


(Just realized that I put this in the Beginner section, I meant to put this thread in the Identification section. Sorry!)

[WaterWitchin]

I moved it for ya Sara Jean.

[neophyte]

it seems that there are also some roots in the picture that are characteristic of epiphytes, whose seeds most likely aren't floating around your house, waiting to develop into weeds. so unless those are remnants from a dead Lepanthes, it may very well be a miraculous recovery.

[AnonYMouse]

I'm thinking those growths were in the works even before the last leaf fell off.

[DarkDragoness]

That thing you circled, its definately a lepanthes leaf growth. I have a calo and its new growths look EXACTLY like that, but the shape of the leaves on yours are different than mine, dont know why though. Calo leaves start out bright green and then their patterns darken, so this guys has at least some calo in him.

[biofuel]

This little guy is not Lepanthes calodictyon, it is closely related Lepanthes barbelifera. Growing conditions are pretty much the same.

[estación seca]

I feel a little queasy. I bought a mounted L. calodictyon in a little covered plastic cup from Ecuagenera at a show in late summer 2018. It looked fantastic, but was bone dry. I took it home that day, watered it with rain and put it in inside under a skylight in a small terrarium. It had 27 leaves and was in flower. I checked it each day, dipping again in rain water when it was approching barely damp. Over the next 2 weeks the leaves steadily dropped off, one or two each day. By late October there was nothing but tiny sticks. I had heard the lecture that they can survive some drought. I kept watering through the winter. A tiny fern sprouted. I figured I would at least have a mounted fern. In April the fern lost its leaf. I kept watering but nothing ever came back. I stopped watering over 6 months after the last calodictyon leaf dropped.