Name: Lepanthes pretiosa Luer & Hirtz
Etymology: pretiosa = precious, valuable (Latin) — refers to the exquisite, jewel-like appearance of the delicate leaves and flowers.

First described: 2009 by American botanist Carlyle  Luer and Ecuadorian botanist Alexander Hirtz in Icones Pleurothallidinarum (Vol. XXX).
Origin / Distribution: Ecuador 
Location / Habitat: Growing epiphytically in the cool, permanently moist cloud forests of the Andes at elevations of approx. 400 meters (other reports list it as a highland epiphyte). It thrives on shaded, permanently humid branches in a moist-warm to cool-intermediate microclimate.
Description & Notes: Lepanthes pretiosa is a spectacular miniature orchid that is prized in cultivation both for its extraordinary flowers and its highly decorative foliage. The thin, upright shoots each bear a single, broadly elliptical to nearly circular leaf. The leaf surface has a distinctive blistered structure (bullate), has wavy margins, and displays a beautiful, silvery-iridescent coloration with dark, net-like venation. The tiny flowers appear sequentially on the leaf surface (epiphyllous); they have translucent, star-shaped sepals that frame a dark, contrasting lip in the center.

In cultivation, this rarity requires partial shade conditions without direct sun to prevent the delicate, shimmering leaf surface from burning. Since it comes from permanently moist cloud forests, the substrate (fine Sphagnum moss or mounted on cork with a moss base) must never dry out completely. It requires a constantly high humidity of over 80% and thrives ideally in shaded display cases or terrariums with good, gentle air circulation.