This is another one of those proud moments you enjoy as a grower when you bloom something for the first time that you have been wanting to grow for years. I really, really love this particular Masdevallia. Yes, yes I know I am partial to the whole genus and I say this all the time, but this is really a neat one… he he… I got it from Peruflora last year and it is a medium sized, cold growing epiphyte (occasionally terrestrial) from the cloud forests of central Peru where it grows at altitudes of 3000 to 3500 meters. It produces a beautiful single flower measuring about 2.5 cm wide and 5 cm tall on a 30 cm inflorescence. I love the coloration but most of all I adore the shape, this being yet another flower almost surpassing itself in beauty when seen in profile.
The name is inspired by the Greek “cyclos” meaning circular, and “tegos” meaning roof and it is referring to the rounded shape of the dorsal sepal. I thrives in cool shady places with good air movement, so I grow mine potted in EpiWeb on the bottom of the cool vivarium where it stays evenly moist. Evidently it approves of this arrangement and I am very pleased.
