I just can’t get enough of this fantastic little mini Masdevallia! Despite its meager size Masdevallia picturata is one of my absolute favorites, and has been so ever since I first saw one. I tried to grow it once before I built the cool vivarium, and I am sad to say I failed… but now I can provide the right conditions for it and finally grow it properly. These two have been blooming since early fall and are still going strong. Leaves measure about 5-6 cm and the flowers are no more than 1.5 cm across not counting the long sepals, but it is quite prolific and make up for the size in complexity and abundance. It is from in the cool and wet cloud forests of Central- to South America where it grows at elevations of 1500 to 2750 meters. I grow mine cool, humid and quite bright, only about 30 cm from the lights.
I am really enjoying your posts and photos of these beautiful orchids. Thank you so much for sharing. I rarely see these orchids in California…
Thank you Steve! 🙂 I dreamed about growing these when I lived in Southern California too. Kind of a challenge with that climate, but I am so happy to finally be able to do it now.
the plants look SO happy growing over there, After a couple of years you could have 20 flowers on each plant, now that they feel just like in home =) … good since sometimes it is a quite tricky species to grow, perhaps that is why it is not much spread around on orchid shops . At home every blooming time I get 1 or 2 seedling capsules but Ive never seen any bug on it, perhaps ´some things´ happen when lights are out
Ive just found five rare Masdevallia species, two at Pando´s peak on Panama border (one of them is SO bold, just like an overshaped M reichembachiana and the other one does not meet any other CR Masdv Ive ever seen), one of them high at the mountains at Cerro de la Muerte but it seems it is different from Masdv rafaeliana, perhaps M walteri, and one at Cerro Paraguas, a very nice location between San Vito and Rio Claro (it was raining A HELL!) … I think the plant type and old blooming stalks could match M scrabilinguis. The fifth, was collected when in Durika, and again, after the mid altitude and plant type, Im totally clueless about what could it be. As the rain time is getting really close, I think some bloom should happens soon.
Diego, the man from Lankester who joined me to Pando trip, told me that there are several Panama species, not reported for CR which could meet the plants we found up there
Thank you Daniel! 🙂 I love these little guys… I grow them quite bright, on your recommendation. It was blooming for a very long time. No seed pods for me, I must not have the same nightly visitors here, he he. But I did just discover seed pods on my Restrepia elegans however… so something is visiting the flowers when I am not watching. 😉
It would make sense that some Panama species would cross over to Costa Rica, as plants don’t know when they cross a man made border… we just need to send you up there again to record them proper for CR! How exciting to get to see all those rare Masdevallia in situ! If I had the room I would grow ALL Masdevallia species, perhaps I can one day…
you should meet Tom Sijm, probably he has the most representative Masdevallia collection in the world. Ive also seen some seed pods on exotic Restrepia plants like R cuprea and L sanguinea, I wonder if they are self acting, and I wonder if somehow they could get into real plants, like happens with local Rs at home