Masdevallia attenuata Rchb. f. 1871 SUBGENUS Masdevallia SECTION Minutae Rchb.f Ex Woolw. 1896 Photo courtesy of Dale and Deni Borders
Side View of Flower Photo by © Orchi and the Wiki media Webpage
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Common Name The Pointed-Petal Masdevallia
Flower Size about 1" [about 2.5 cm]
This small sized, warm to cool growing, epiphytic species is found in Costa Rica, Panama and Ecuador in cloud forests at an altitude of 700 to 2400 meters with short, erect, slender stems enveloped basallly by 2 to 3 thin, close, tubular sheaths carrying a single apical, elliptic-oblong, conduplicate, petiolate leaf that gradually narrows below to a subpetiolate base and blooms with 1 flower per 2 to 3" [5 to 7.5 cm] long, erect inflorescence that is usually shorter than the leaves and has waxy, long-lasting, bell shaped flowers occuring in the late winter and early spring. This species is very similar and may be conspecific with to Masdevallia laucheana but occurs ar lower elevations, has shorter inflorescence and smaller flowers with sharper lines on the sepals.
Synonyms Acinopetala attenuata (Rchb. f.) Luer 2006; Masdevallia fonsecae Koniger 1994
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965; Systematics of Masdevallia Vol 2 Luer 1986; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum plate 1544 Atwood 1993 drawing fide; Orchid Digest Vol 58 No 4 1993 photo fide; Icones Pleurothallidinarum XXII Systematics of Masdevallia Part 3 Luer 2001 drawing fide; Native Ecuadorian Orchids Vol 3 Dodson 2002 photo fide; Orchidaceae Masdevallia and Affiliates Dodson & Luer 2009 as Acinopetala atttenuata drawing fide;
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