mini orchid ID (Pleurothallis or Pleurothallid?)

[Zyzzyzus]

Hello, I got this labeled as "Pleuro.?". I know it'll never be able to have a positive ID, but I'd love to hear peoples' thoughts on what it might be/how big it might grow/when it might bloom etc. I don't know if Pleuro means that it's probably a Pleurothallis or if it's a genus in the Pleurothallid alliance.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Without flowers, it's near impossible to get an ID on many Pleurothallids, because vegetatively, some look very similar to each other.

Even with flowers, you might get an unidentified species that no one can ID for you.

With that said, your plant is in the super-genus Pleurothallis. Whether it is Acronia, Acianthera, Ancipitia, or some other genus within the super-genus, I have no clue, because there are no flowers.

If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say they look very much like very young Pleurothallis ruscifolia keikis. Should they be keikis of Plths ruscifolia, they top out at about 7" - 8" tall. They can be rather stubborn bloomers.

One thing is certain, they are not Scaphosepalum, Stelis, Barbosella, Trichosalpinx, Porroglossum, Restrepiella, Lepanthes, Lepanthopsis, Trisetella, Diodonopsis, Dracula, Masdevallia, Restrepiosis, Myoxanthus, Octomeria, Dresslerella, Zooptrophion, Ophidion, Salpistele, Platystele, Dryadella, Condylago, Brachionidium, or Restrepia.

[tropterrarium]

Yep, looks like a pleurothallid (s.l.). I would not discount Stelis, Masdevallia. Some species may be looking like your specimen. Fortunately, pretty easy to distinguish once they flower.

Re flowering, some are easy, some hard, and given that it is a no ID, culture conditions are anybody's guess. A number of pleuros take a surprising amount of light. I currently have a Barbosella covered in flowers after I moved it to the very top of my GH. Trichosalpinx also requires high light and very moist to flower. Your plant is quite certainly neither of those. Even Pleuro. grobyi flowers in abundance once exposed to sufficient light. So despite the assumption of shade for pleuros, that does not always apply.