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 (Thorell, 1890), "Erasinus dentipalpis" (Thorell, 1892), "Erasinus labiatus" (Simon, 1903) and "Portia labiata" (Wanless, 1978), and the last name has been used since then. "Portia" is in the subfamily Spartaeinae, which is thought to be primitive. Molecular phylogeny, a technique that compares the DNA of organisms to reconstruct the tree of life, indicates that "Portia" is a member of the clade Spartaeinae, that Spartaeinae is basal (quite similar to the ancestors of all jumping spiders), that "Portia"′s closest relative is the genus "Spartaeus", and that the next closest are "Phaeacius" and "Holcolaetis". Portia labiata Portia labiata is a jumping spider