Masdevallia venusta

Masdevallia venustum is another of the very bright hummingbird pollinated species in Masdevallia subsection coccinea.

Masdevallia venusta is a compact plant that produces really large flowers on relaxed or pendulous flower stems. The evolutionary advantage of these stems is that flowers in nature are presented away from the plant in fresh air giving easy access to the pollinating bird.

The dramatic flowers are orange with scarlet stripes a real beauty. The species was originally found in Northern Peru in wet forests at around 2500m altitude but it has not been found again since its original collection. This means that all plants in cultivation have come from the original collection in the early 1900's. The fact that plants do still exist suggest that the species is quite straight forward in cultivation and also encourages us to pollinate our plants to help make more plants available into the future.

If anyone bumps into the species in the forests of Northern Peru do let us know.