World's smallest orchid flower discovered in Brazil

The world's smallest orchid flower has been identified by a botanist in Brazil, measuring just half a millimetre. The tiny bloom was initially mistaken for a fungus before being examined under a microscope at the Federal University of Santa Catarina in the south of the country.

Close-up images of the species identified as Campylocentrum insulare, which is often confused with a root before flowering, show six white petals around a yellow centre. Researcher Carlos Eduardo de Siqueira found the orchid on a branch in a greenhouse at the university's botany department.

A number of plants had been delivered for analysis to the Environmental Conservation Unit (UCAD) on the tiny island, Ilha de Santa Catarina, where Mr Siqueira was researching a subtype of orchids, which grow on other plants. "In the whole group, all the plants are small in general, but this overdid the dose and became tiny," he joked.

"I found the little flower and researched orchids. There isn't one as small as this.

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