Masdevallia dynastes

The flowers of this wonderful, small growing, Masdevallia always make me think of the spotted heads of nestlings, poking up from the nest of leaves, with gaping mouths asking to be fed – what do you think?

Masdevallia dynastes is a very floriferous species,  with single flowers on wiry stems, endemic to cloud forests in Ecuador from 1400-2800m altitude. The flowers look fragile but are long lasting and this plant will still be in flower in March.

As you can see this plant is in a basket but we also succeed with the species mounted on cork or in small pots. The species seems to enjoy plenty of water but good light and so we grow plants half way up the our Cloud Forests Greenhouse  - the top of the greenhouse is warmer, brighter and dryer, floor level is cooler, damper and shaded. Halfway up is perfect for Masdevallias like this one.