Masdevallia picea Luer 1979 SUBGENUS Masdevallia SECTION Coriaceae SUBSECTION Coriaceae Rchb.f 1874
Photos by Eric Hunt, plant grown by the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers
TYPE Drawing by Carl Luer
Common Name The Pitch-Black Masdevallia
Flower Size 2" [5 cm]
Found in Ecuador? and northern Peru high in the forest canopy at elevations around 2700 meters as a miniature sized, caespitose, cold growing epiphyte with a ramicaul enveloped by 2 to 3 loose, tubular sheaths and carrying a single, apical, erect, thickly coriaceous, elliptic-oblong, obtuse to rounded at the apex leaf that is cuneate below into the channeled subpetiolate base that blooms in the spring on a short, solitary flowered, purple flecked inflorescence arising from low on the ramicaul with a tubular, purple flecked floral bract with a single, malodorous flower that is held below the leaves.
Synonyms Byrsella picea (Luer) Luer 2006; Masdevallia rufolutea Lindley 1853
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; A Treasure of Masdevallia Vol 21 Luer & Dalstroem 1996 drawing fide; Icones Pleurothallidinarum Vol XXI Masdevallia Part 2 Luer 2000 drawing fide; Masdevallia's in Kleur Vol 1 P M Oversteegen, Eisses & A P Sijm 2001 photo fide; Icones Pleurothallidinarum Vol XXVIII Luer 2006 as Byrsella picea; Orchids Masdevallia with its segregates including Dracula Zelenko 2014 photo fide;
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
