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Species library › Masdevallia › Masdevallia attenuata
Orchids Well documented

Masdevallia attenuata

Masdevallia attenuata Rchb.f. (1871) is a small, free-flowering species of the wet montane forests of Costa Rica and western Panama, with pale, long-tailed flowers held just above the leaves. Wild records run from 500 to 2,760 m with a median near 1,100 m, so it takes intermediate to cool conditions and is one of the easier Masdevallia to keep on a humid, cool windowsill.

Masdevallia attenuata
Photo: Orchi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day IntermediateTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Humid airBand in Plantistry
Light Dappled lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
No rest periodGrows on trees (epiphyte)

Where it grows wild

Epiphyte on mossy trunks and lower branches in wet premontane and lower montane rain forest and cloud forest of the Talamanca and Chiriquí highlands; in shade to dappled light with high humidity all year.

Recorded 500–2,760 m from 18 records, median 1,100 m; most collections are from 900–1,650 m (Puntarenas, Cartago, Chiriquí), with the Río Macho records at 2,760 m marking the cool end.

Costa RicaPanamaPuntarenasCartagoSan JoséChiriquí

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 3.0 licence, unmodified.