Lepanthes reticulata is a small, tufted epiphytic orchid with slender roots and very slender, suberect secondary stems (ramicauls) 2–6 cm long, enclosed by six to nine close lepanthiform sheaths — the funnel-shaped, fringed sheaths characteristic of the genus — glabrous except for the microscopically ciliate ostia. Each ramicaul bears a single suberect, thinly coriaceous leaf that is intensely reticulated in purple on the upper surface, narrowly ovate, 3–4 cm long and 0.8–1.2 cm wide, the apex acute, acuminate, and prominently tridenticulate (with three small teeth at the tip), the base cuneate into a 1 mm long petiole.

The inflorescence is a congested, distichous, successively flowered raceme up to 11 mm long, borne on top of the leaf by a filiform peduncle up to 8 mm long; the floral bracts are 0.5 mm long, the pedicels 2.5 mm long, and the ovary 2 mm long. The sepals are orange-brown, glabrous, broadly ovate, obtuse and abruptly shortly acuminate, the margins minutely denticulate; the dorsal sepal is 3.75 mm long and 3.2 mm wide, 3-veined, connate to the lateral sepals for 1 mm; the lateral sepals are oblique, diverging, connate 2 mm, 3.33 mm long and 4.2 mm wide together, each 2-veined. The petals are red-orange, microscopically pubescent, transversely bilobed, 1 mm long and 3.5 mm wide; the upper lobe is oblong with the end rounded — large, obovate, and broadly produced upward; the lower lobe is much smaller, narrowly triangular, and acute. The lip is orange-brown and pubescent, the blades oblong with obtuse, ciliate apices, 0.85 mm long; the connectives cuneate, connate to the column at the base, with a pubescent, ligulate, concave appendix hinged at the sinus. The column is 0.75 mm long, with a dorsal anther and a ventral stigma.

Flower characteristics at a glance: the flower is small (sepals 3.3–3.75 mm long) but vivid, with broadly ovate orange-brown sepals, red-orange petals whose upper lobes are large and obovate — likened by Luer to rabbits' ears — and a very small, pubescent lip with a tongue-like appendix at the sinus. The whole flower sits directly on the dorsal (upper) surface of the conspicuously reticulated leaf, raised only by a short filiform peduncle.

The morphological characters described here follow Luer & Escobar (1984); the description is reproduced with minor modernization by Luer & Thoerle (2012) in Icones Pleurothallidinarum XXXII.

The published literature describes Lepanthes reticulata as an epiphyte of Andean cloud forests in northern Antioquia, recorded from approximately 1,730 m to 2,700 m at the type locality and surrounding sector (Luer & Escobar, 1984). The protologue cites collections from cloud forest along Río El Oro and from a forest remnant along the road to Briceño, in both cases on woody vegetation in mature forest.

At La Honda the species has been observed in mature secondary forest, growing as single, scattered individuals on small mossy branches in the forest interior. Plants have not been observed in patches or in close association at the local site; each known individual is a solitary plant on its own branch, in well-shaded, humid microsites within continuous forest. Local detection is difficult — the leaves are small and dark, the flowers tiny and held flush against the leaf surface, and the species's scattered habit means there is no aggregation to draw the eye. It is among the more easily overlooked Lepanthes documented at La Honda.

Lepanthes reticulata is endemic to Colombia, known from the department of Antioquia (POWO, 2026). The holotype was collected at Quebrada El Oro, in the municipality of Yarumal, northern Antioquia, at 1,730 m (21 May 1983; R. Escobar & E. Valencia 2650, Holotype SEL; illustrated as C. Luer 9105) and published by Luer & Escobar (1984) in the American Orchid Society Bulletin. Additional collections cited in the protologue come from the same Quebrada El Oro sector at 1,820 m and 1,850 m, and from a forest remnant along the road to Briceño, north of Yarumal, at 2,700 m — bringing the published elevation range to approximately 1,730–2,700 m.

The La Honda record extends the known range of the species substantially southward, by approximately 100 km along the Cordillera Central, into the eastern-Antioquia massif at El Carmen de Viboral. All of the collections cited in the protologue lie within the northern segment of the cordillera around Yarumal–Briceño; the La Honda population represents, to our knowledge, the first published documentation of the species from the eastern-Antioquia subregion. The verification of this identification by a Colombian Lepanthes specialist is therefore a matter of editorial importance for this sheet, and the record is presented here pending such verification.

Flowering has been observed in La Honda on the few individuals encountered, with single open flowers borne directly on the upper surface of the leaf. Because the species is uncommon at the local site and has been observed on a limited number of occasions, seasonality at this site cannot be reliably characterised from the available data. Systematic observation across a full annual cycle would be required to describe the phenology of the local population.

Recognition rests primarily on the leaf, which is narrowly ovate, thinly coriaceous, and intensely reticulated in purple over the upper surface — a vegetative character that, among the Lepanthes documented at La Honda, is unique to this species. The leaf apex is acute, acuminate and prominently three-toothed (tridenticulate), visible with a hand lens. The flower is small but distinctive: broadly ovate, obtuse orange-brown sepals; red-orange petals with a much-enlarged, obovate upper lobe — likened in the original diagnosis to a rabbit's ear — and a much smaller, narrowly triangular lower lobe; and a very small, pubescent lip with a tongue-like appendix. In Luer & Escobar's original treatment the species is compared to Lepanthes cunicularis, which shares the rabbit-eared petal silhouette but is much larger vegetatively and florally (ramicauls to 15 cm, leaves to 6 cm, sepals to about 5 mm). The genus Lepanthes as a whole is diagnosed by the lepanthiform sheaths on the ramicauls.

Lepanthes reticulata has not been evaluated globally on the IUCN Red List (status NE, Not Evaluated, as of the date of this sheet). At the national regulatory level in Colombia, the species is not listed in Resolución 0126 de 2024 of the Ministry of Environment; it is therefore not classified as threatened under current Colombian environmental law.

"Not Evaluated" is not a statement that the species is safe — it is a statement that no formal assessment has been made. Miniature orchids of the genus Lepanthes, including species not yet formally assessed, remain subject to poaching for specialist collectors, and populations can be depleted by collection far faster than an assessment system can respond. The species is also narrowly distributed in cloud forest along the eastern slope of the Cordillera Central in Antioquia — a habitat under sustained pressure from land-use change, fragmentation and conversion. The La Honda population deserves particular attention on three grounds: it is the first documentation of the species from the eastern-Antioquia subregion and is therefore important for the species's regional range; the local population is sparse, with plants observed only as scattered individuals rather than in patches; and the species is easily overlooked even where it is present, so a depleted population could go undetected for some time.

For these reasons, the specific location within La Honda where L. reticulata has been documented is not published, and elevation data are redacted from this sheet. Requests for further locality detail from researchers or conservation practitioners with a legitimate scientific or institutional purpose may be directed to [email protected].