Species library › Masdevallia › Masdevallia livingstoneana
Orchids Partly documented

Masdevallia livingstoneana

Masdevallia livingstoneana is one of the few truly lowland, warm-growing Masdevallia, recorded mostly near sea level in Panama's Canal area and on the Pacific-Caribbean lowlands from Costa Rica to northwest Colombia. Unlike its Andean relatives it wants warm nights, not a cool drop.

Masdevallia livingstoneana
Photo: Orchi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Warm-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Humid airBand in Plantistry
Light Dappled lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows on trees (epiphyte)

Where it grows wild

An epiphyte of humid lowland and foothill forest; records cluster around the Panama Canal watershed, mostly below 300 m.

14 records span 2–792 m, median 91 m.

PanamaCosta RicaColombia

🔒 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

Grow Masdevallia livingstoneana? Add it to a free garden and its full profile opens. Pro opens all 38,374 profiles in the library, plants and fungi.

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.