Leptotes (plant) are mounted on plaques of vegetal fiber or tree cork. Watering and fertilizer must be more frequent during active growth periods and less during dormant periods. Ideal growth conditions require an intermediate temperature and exposure to filtered sunlight. In April 1833, an unknown species from the Serra dos Órgãos mountains of Brazil blossomed in the greenhouse of Mrs. Arnold Harrison, an English collector of orchids homaged in diverse descriptions of noted species such as "Bifrenaria harrisoniae" and "Cattleya harrisoniana". A short time later, Mrs. Harrison sent a drawing and cutting of this plant to the botanist John Lindley, who verified
Portia labiata suspended near the top of its capture web, and then covers the eggs with a sheet of silk. If there is no dead leaf available, the female will make a small horizontal silk platform in the capture web, lay the eggs on it, and then cover the eggs. "Portia" females have never been seen eating their own eggs, but in nature females with eggs of their own have been seen eating eggs of other females of the same species. In a test, "P. labiata" females did not eat their eggs if the testers put them in other female's nests, showing