Masdevallia elephanticeps Rchb.f. & Warsz. 1854 SUBGENUS Masdevallia SECTION Coriaceae SUBSECTION Coriaceae Rchb.f 1874
Photo by © Eric Hunt
Photo by © Eric Crichton
Common Name The Elephant Head Masdevallia [Refers to the flowers large size]
Flower Size 2" [5 cm] wide
Found in northern Colombia and Venezuela at elevations of 2600 to 3150 meters in cloud forests as a small sized, cold growing epiphyte with erect, stout ramicauls enveloped basally by 2 to 3 loose, tubular sheaths carrying a single, apical, erect, coriaceous, oblong, obtuse leaf that is narrowed below into the channeled petiole and blooms on a stout, erect to suberect, 1 3/4" to 2 1/4" [4 to 5.5 cm] long, single flowered inflorescence carrying a huge [for the genus] foul smelling flower held at mid-leaf.
Synonyms Byrsella elephanticeps (Rchb.f. & Warsz.) Luer 2006
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *Bonplandia Rchb.f 1854; Bonplandia Rchb.f 1854 as M elephanticeps var pachysepala; Bonplandia Rchb.f 1855; Xenia Orchidaceae Rchb.f 1854 drawing; Die Orchideen Schlechter 1915; Atlas des Orchidees Cultivees Constantin 1920 drawing good; AOS Bulletin Vol 33 No 5 1964 photo fide; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965; Flora de Venezuela Foldats Volumen XV Part 3 1970; Orquideologia Vol 16 No 1 1983; AOS Bulletin Vol 51 No 7 1982 photo fide; Systematics of Masdevallia Vol 2 Luer 1986; Native Colombian Orchids Vol 2 COS 1991 photo fide; Icones Pleurothallidinarum XXI Systematics of Masdevallia Part 2 Luer 2000 drawing fide; Orchid Australia Vol 13 No 1 2001 photo; Masdevallia's in Kleur Vol 1 P M Oversteegen, Eisses & A P Sijm 2001 photo fide; Libro Rojo de Plantas De Colombia Vol 6 Primera Parte Saenz 2007 photo fide; Orquideologia Vol 28 #2 2011 photo fide; Orchids Masdevallia with its segregates including Dracula Zelenko 2014 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 88 #9 2019 drawing fide;
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