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Species library › Masdevallia › Masdevallia coccinea
Orchids Well documented

Masdevallia coccinea

A showy, high-altitude Masdevallia from the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia. Tufts of narrow leaves carry single flowers on tall stems, in magenta, scarlet, orange, yellow or white. It is a truly cold-growing orchid of open, misty upper-montane slopes, and fails in warm conditions.

Masdevallia coccinea
Photo: Charles François Antoine Morren and edited by Charles Jacques Édouard Morren., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Cool-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Humid airBand in Plantistry
Light Bright, filtered lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
No rest periodGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

It grows on the ground or on rocks among grasses, shrubs and moss on open, humid slopes and road banks at the upper edge of cloud forest and near the páramo. Constant cloud and cold nights make up for the exposed position. A Colombian description in GBIF gives the Andes as its biogeographic region.

Labelled records lie at about 2,200-3,250 m (for example 3,252 m in Boyacá, 2,500-2,700 m near Bogotá and Villa de Leyva). The literature often gives up to about 3,500 m.

Colombia

🔒 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 Public domain licence, unmodified.