Masdevallia caesia Roezl 1883 SUBGENUS Masdevallia SECTION Coriaceae SUBSECTION Coriaceae Rchb.f 1874
Photo by © Jay Pfahl
Photo by © John Varigos and His Orchid webpage
Photo by Weyman Bussey, plant grown by Jim Hamilton
Photo by Eric Hunt, plant grown by Golden Gate Orchids
Common Name The Blue-Gray Masdevallia [refers to the leaves color]
Flower Size 5 to 9 1/2" [12.5 to 23 cm]
Found in southwestern Colombia in cloud forests at elevations of 1600 to 2200 meters as a small sized, pendant, cold to cool growing and flowering epiphytic species with stout descending ramicauls enveloped basally by 2 to 3 loose, tubular sheaths carrying a single, apical, erect, coriaceous, suffused with bluish purple, narrowly obovate, obtuse leaf that is gradually narrowed into the base, blooming on a descending, 1 to 2" [2.5 to 5 cm] long, purple dotted, single flowered inflorescence arising from near the base of the ramicaul with a basal bract and a tubular floral bract holding the large, stinking flower amid the leaves.
Synonyms Byrsella caesia (Roezl) Luer 2006; Masdevallia deorsum Rolfe 1900; Masdevallia metallica F.Lehm. & Kraenzl. 1925
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Atlas des Orchidees Cultivees Constantin 1920 as M deorsum drawing good; AOS Bulletin Vol 38 #7 1969 as M deorsa photo fide; Systematics of Masdevallia Vol 2 Luer 1986; Native Colombian Orchids Vol 2 COS 1991 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 62 No 6 1993 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 65 Vol 7 1996; Orchid Digest Vol 62 #4 1998 drawing/photo fide; Icones Pleurothallidinarum XXI Systematics of Masdevallia Part 2 Luer 2000 drawing fide; Madevallia's in Kleur Vol 1 P M Oversteegen, Eisses & A P Sijm 2001 photo fide; Icones Pleurothallidinarum XXVIII Luer 2006 as Byrsella caesia; Libro Rojo de Plantas De Colombia Vol 6 Primera Parte Saenz 2007 photo fide; Orchids Masdevallia with its segregates including Dracula Zelenko 2014 photo fide; Orquideas de Farallones de Cali Galindo-Tarazona, Haelterman, Zuluaga Trochez and Sebastian Moreno 2020 photo fide
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