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Species library › Masdevallia › Masdevallia coriacea
Orchids Well documented

Masdevallia coriacea

Masdevallia coriacea Lindl. is one of the classic cold-growing terrestrial Masdevallias of the high Colombian Andes: thick leathery leaves and waxy cream flowers spotted purple, from paramo grassland and open scrub at roughly 2300 to 3900 m. It wants more light and colder nights than the average cloud-forest Masdevallia, and is not hard once it has them.

Masdevallia coriacea
Photo: Florence H. Woolward (illustrator); B.S. Marquess of Lothian (editors), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Cool-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light Bright, filtered lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
No rest periodGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

Terrestrial in wet paramo and subparamo grassland, on grassy banks and among low shrubs, often in full or nearly full sun; the leathery leaves are an adaptation to that exposure. Occasionally on mossy rocks or low trunks at forest edge.

Recorded at 2265 to 3950 m, median about 2600 m, from 71 records; most records are on the Bogota plateau and the Boyaca highlands.

ColombiaCundinamarcaBoyacaEcuadorPeru

🔒 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.