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Masdevallia rimarima-alba

Masdevallia rimarima-alba, column and lip

Masdevallia rimarima-alba is a Peruvian species from Huasahuasi valley at elevation of 2500m.  According to Masdevallias: Gems of the Orchid World by Gerritsen & Parsons (2005), the origin of the species name is quite fascinating. "rima rima" means talk-talk in the local language. The native civilization used the leaves and roots as a way to accelerate talking in the toddlers.  We are trying a bilingual environment for our 3-year old son, but I haven't thought of trying this "medicine".

It is one of the species which I wanted to grow after I saw a photo in Gerritsen & Parsons's book.  I finally got an environment where I could grow it, and I received this plant from Ecuagenera about 1 year ago. It was a replacement for a dead-on-arrival plant (all leaves fell down when I opened the package, probably from the heat stress during the transit). Fortunately, the replacement arrived in a good condition, and it was already a big plant from the beginning.  Indeed, it seems to grow at an amazing speed under a suitable temperature.  It has been continuously blooming since January 2015 (usually 2-3 flowers at a time).

The one I got was listed as M. rimarima-pink by Ecuagenera. I guess it is a bit more pinkish than the typical one?
Masdevallia rimarima-alba


Nice yellow color on the back side:
Masdevallia rimarima-alba, back of the flowers

Whole plant:
Masdevallia rimarima-alba

Robust roots.  The roots appear to be pushing the entire plant up from the pot.
Masdevallia rimarima-alba root.


I'm growing it in the same environment that I described for M. lychniphora yesterday.  Willam Ames Rhodehamel's (1989) "A Masdevallia Cultural Guide" recommends cool (10-16.7C/4.4-11.7C = 50-62F/40-53F) temperature.

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