Masdevallia cocapatae Luer, Teague & Vásquez 1997 SUBGENUS Polyantha SECTION Alaticaules SUBSECTION Alaticaules [Krzl.] Luer 1986
Photo courtesy of © Eric Hunt.
Photo by © Tom Sijm
TYPE Drawing by Carl Luer
Common Name or Meaning the Cocapata Masdevallia [town in Bolivia]
Flower Size 3/4" [2 cm]
Found in Cochabamba department of Bolivia and Ecuador in seasonally dry forests at elevations around 2100 meters as a miniature sized, cold growing epiphyte with stout, erect ramicauls enveloped basally by 2 to 3 thin, tubular sheaths and carrying a single, apical, erect, coriaceous, obovate, subacute to obtuse leaf that the base gradually narrows below into the petiole and blooms in the spring on an erect, arising from low on the ramicaul, successively single, few [2] flowered, congested, racemose, 2.4 to 3" [6 to 7.5 cm] long, triquetrous inflorescence with thin, inflated, imbricating, tubular, shorter than the pedicel floral bracts that are spotted with purple.
This species is part of the Masdevallia bicolor complex yet differs by the dark red brown flowers with yellow orange tails, a lengthier sepaline tube with the lateral sepals subacute and free beyond the tube They also are not connate into a broad synsepal beyond the tube, as well as narrowly oblong sepals and the lateral folds of the lip are acute. The acute epichile is ovate and acute with 3 parrellel calli.
Synonyms Alaticaulia cocapatae (Luer, Teague & R.Vásquez) Luer 2006
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; A Treasure of Masdevallia Vol 23 Luer & Dalstroem 1998 watercolor/drawing fide; Icones Pleurothallidinarum XIX Systematics of Masdevallia Part 1 Luer 2000 drawing fide; Icones Pleurothallidinarum Vol XXVIII Luer 2006 as Alaticaulia cocapatae; Orchids Masdevallia with its segregates including Dracula Zelenko 2014 photo fide;
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