This is such an ethereal and elegant little Masdevallia. At first the flowers might seem a bit bland and colorless, but when you really look at them up close you see that the they are cast in an almost metallic sheen. The incredible subtle purple details inside the flowers are further accentuated by the plain outside wrapper. Quite stunning really.
Masdevallia norae originates from South America where it grows at a pretty broad altitude span between 200 and 800 meters so it is more tolerant to warmer temperatures. I grow mine potted in EpiWeb substrate in the cool vivarium since I completed that build back in April. I actually flowered this plant on the windowsill last winter too, but I only got one or two flowers then. This time I have about 10 spikes coming, these two being the first few to open. Pretty much the same scenario I see with all the Masdevallia after moving them into the cool vivarium… in other words, yeah, you can grow Masdevallia in a lower humidity environment, but give them the proper growing conditions and they will reward you.
