Plant - epiphytic, rarely half-erector mostly pendent 1.5 m long, succulent linear branches growing from the tips, 2 - 3 angled, 7 - 18 cm long and 0.7 - 1.3 cm wide.

Areoles - very small without bristles, with barely visible tomentum. New shoots with very small deciduous leaf and often with 1 mm long extra nuptial nectar hairs.
Branch covering - dirty green with long areas of 70cm wide and 100cm - 500cm vesicles with polished surface area, stomata not sunken.

R. micrantha (L.Scherens collection) ©KAF 10/03		R. micrantha Huntington Botanical Garden ©KAF

 Flowers - simple, lateral, on the edges of the branches, whitish hence shiny, radial, 6 -10 mm , more than half opening.
Perianth-segments - 5 - 7, the inside ones to 4.8 mm long and 4 mm wide, egg-shaped or long-egg-shaped
Style - erect, 4 - 5 mm long with 3 - 4 spreading papillose lobes, a white disk at the base of the style.
Stamens - 25 - 35 , 2 - 3 mm long, anthers white, small.
Pericarp - light-green, not sunken in the stem, bare, except for a single scale
Fruit - a globose naked berry, 8 mm long, 6 mm wide white, most times reddish towards the top.

DISTRIBUTION - Costa Rica, Colombia, western Venezuela, Ecuador, northern Peru; near sea level to 2000m altitude

Synonym werklei from Costa Rica

Related species: R. micrantha f. kirbergii, R. micrantha f. rauhiorum

R. micrantha, photo copyright Eddie Huey 2007

Discussion