Masdevallia impostorI got this orchid from Ecuagenera at the show in Gothenburg about a month ago. It is such an impressive species and I have been wanting one for a long time. It came with two old inflorecenses and they came to life again producing new buds as soon as I got it home. The inflorecense measure about 45 cm long and keep growing as it produces several single flowers in succession. The flowers are quite narrow but tall, measuring about 1,5 cm wide by 15 cm tall.

The common name for it comes from the Latin word impostor, and it refers to the long-mistaken identity of the species. Either a part of the subsection Alaticaules in the huge Masdevallia genus, or if you go by Luer’s recent division of Masdevallia into many smaller genera, it would now be called Alaticaulia impostor. Masdevallia, or Alaticaulia impostor, comes from Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador where it has been found in cloud forests at elevations of 1500 to 1900 meters. It can adapt to a fairly wide temperature range, but I grow mine cool and potted in EpiWeb substrate.

Masdevallia impostor