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Species library › Maxillaria › Maxillaria crassifolia
Orchids Partly documented

Maxillaria crassifolia

A widespread lowland epiphytic orchid from Mexico and the Caribbean to the Amazon, with thick, fleshy, fan-arranged leaves and small yellow flowers tucked at the base. It grows warm and humid all year, and its succulent leaves let it take brighter light and short dry spells better than thin-leaved Maxillaria.

Maxillaria crassifolia
Photo: Designer: M. Hart - Engraver: J. Watts, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Warm-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 on trees (epiphyte)

Where it grows wild

Epiphyte on trunks and branches in warm, wet lowland and foothill forest, including fairly open forest edges and mangrove margins. The thick leaves suggest exposed, bright perches rather than deep shade; this is inferred from the genus and leaf form, not species-specific study.

Recorded from sea level to 2150 m, but most records are low (median 256 m); treat it as a warm lowland plant.

MexicoCentral AmericaCaribbeanFloridanorthern South Americawestern Amazon

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

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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.