Masdevallia caudata Lindl. 1833 SUBGENUS Masdevallia SECTION Masdevallia SUBSECTION Caudatae Veitch 1889 TYPE For the SUBSECTION
Photo by © Ellis Eyre
Photo by © Eric Hunt
Plant in situ Cundinamarca Colombia
Photos courtesy of Jay Pfahl
EARLY 
Common Name The Long-Sepaled Masdevallia - In Colombia Colibri
Flower Size to almost 6" [to 16 cm]
Found in Colombia and western Venezuela in cloud forests at altitudes of 1800 to 3300 meters as a mini-miniature sized, cool to cold growing, tufted, epiphyte with blackish, slender, erect ramicauls enveloped basally by 2 to 3 loose, tubular sheaths and carrying a single, apical, oblanceolate, suberect, coriaceous, petiolate, rounded at the apex leaf that is cuneate below into the petiole and blooms in the late autumn through early spring with an arcuate, short, slender, to 4" to 5" [12 to 13 cm] long inflorescence arising from low on the ramicaul, has a bract above the base and a tubular floral bract with a single, fragrant, campanulate, color variable flower that is held at or below leaf height.
This plant is a cool to cold growing species that likes high humidity, shade and potted in a chopped mixture of tree fern, fir bark, perlite and sphagnum moss.
Synonyms Masdevallia caudata f. xanthocorys (Rchb.f.) O.Gruss & M.Wolff 2007; Masdevallia caudata var. gudotii Rchb.f. 1889; Masdevallia caudata var. shuttleworthii (Rchb.f.) Rchb.f. 1889; Masdevallia caudata var. xanthocorys (Rchb.f.) A.H.Kent 1889; Masdevallia cucutillensis Kraenzl. 1922; Masdevallia shuttleworthii Rchb.f 1875; Masdevallia shuttleworthii var. xanthocorys Rchb.f. 1882
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Bonplandia Rchb.f 1854; Die Orchideen Schlechter 1915 photo ok; Atlas des Orchidees Cultivees Constantin 1920 as M shuttlewothii drawing fide; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965; Venezuelan Orchids Vol 5 Dunsterville & Garay 1966 drawing fide; Flora de Venezuela Foldats Volumen XV Part 3 1970 drawing ok; Fieldiana Biology, Vol 33, 1st Supple. to the Orchids of Peru Schweinfurth 1970; Die Orchideen 3 Auflage Bd 1 Sonderabdruck aus Schlechter Lieferung 7 385 - 448 Brieger, Maatsch and Senghas 1975; Orchids of Venezuela, An Illustrated Field Guide Vol 2 Dunsterville & Garay 1979 drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 53 No 9 1984 photo fide; Icones Pleurothallidinarum Systematics of Masdevallia Vol 2 Luer 1986 drawing fide; Orchids Travel By Air A Pictoral Safari Mulder, Mulder-Roelfsema and Schuiteman 1990 photo fide; Native Colombian Orchids Vol 2 COS 1991 photo fide; Venezuela; The Manual Of Cultivated Orchid Species Bechtel, Cribb & Launert 1992 photo fide; Paraiso de Orquideas Romero 1997 photo hmm; AOS Bulletin Vol 67 No 11 1998 photo fide; Orchids of Venezuela [An illustrated field guide] Vol. 2 Ramiro and Carnevali 2000 drawing fide; Masdevallia's in Kleur Vol 1 P M Oversteegen, Eisses & A P Sijm 2001 photo fide; Icones Pleurothallidinarum XXIII Systematics of Masdevallia Part 4 Luer 2002 drawing fide; Orquideas Nativas del Tachira Cesar Fernandez 2003 photo fide; Australian Orchid Review Vol 69 No 3 2004 photo; AOS Bulletin Vol 74 No 2 2005 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 74 No 7 2005 photo fide; Libro Rojo de Plantas De Colombia Vol 6 Primera Parte Saenz 2007 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 72 No 4 2008 photo fide; Orchid Species of Peru Zelenko Bermudez 2009 photo fide; Mille et Une Mini Orchideees Roguenant 2009 photo fide; Masdevallia in Detail Vol 5 Sijm etal 2010 photo/drawing fide; Las Orquideas del Peru Izerskyy & Bezverhov 2011 photo fide; Orquideologia Vol 29 #1 2012 photo fide; Orchids Masdevallia with its segregates including Dracula Zelenko 2014 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 84 #4 2015 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 86 #4 2017 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 88 #4 2019 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 84 #1 2020 photo fide;
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