ne of the first hard-to-obtain 
XJ Masdevallia species I tried to get 
plants of was M. chaparensis, a cool 
grower, from around the 2700 metre ele- 
vation mark in the Chapare region of 
Bolivia. This species is not widely distrib- 
uted and therefore has always been scarce, 
but eventually I managed to get a plant that 
has survived and done well though it has 
not been a very viable seed producer. 
Other Masdevallias do have spots, M. 
decumana for instance and M. glandulosa. 
But the M. chaparensis is dominant in 
breeding and it has a good stem habit as 
well. My initial enthusiasm for chaparen- 
sis hybrids came from a visit to the U.S.A. 
when I saw M. Sunset Jaguar at the San 
Francisco Show. This cross of M. Copper 
Angel x M. chaparensis is magnificent. I 
also saw M. Geneva Spots ‘White 
Swallow’, a white with red spots, just fan- 
tastic. 
Back home we had M. Chaparana (cha- 
parensis x veitchiana), some lovely clones 
of this showed once again that M. veitchi- 
ana gives the basis for high quality 
Masdevallias. It also showed how strong 
the spotted influence from chaparensis 
can be. Even the next generation such as 
Chaparana x Sun Dancer were strongly 
spotted and of even better flower form. 
Angel Frost x chaparensis made M. 
Winter Blush; these were not as good as 
the Sunset Jaguars, being smaller and less 
vibrant, at least in the ones I have seen. Of 
the M. glandulosa hybrids of which there 
are not many, M. Confetti (glandulosa x 
strobelii) is certainly one of the best and is 
simply amazing in its productivity; it’s 
hard to believe a small plant can produce 
so many flowers. 
M. decumana with its superb large flow- 
ers on small plants has been a magic par- 
ent. It can be a difficult plant to grow for 
most people, being a very cool grower and 
rather sensitive to root problems. M. 
decumana is often better grown on mounts 
rather than in pots, but worth the effort if 
you can source a plant to get started. 
Crossed with our feature parent M. cha- 
parensis you get the very delightful M. 
Enchantment. Now as I have mentioned 
both parents are tricky growers but the 
progeny are quite tolerant and forgiving. 
They still require cool conditions but grow 
and flower quite freely. This hybrid vigour 
occurs in horticulture a lot but has been 
very evident in these cool high-altitude 
plants. Interestingly when I back crossed 
M. Enchantment to M. decumana, the 
progeny (as yet unnamed), are virtual M. 
decumana look-a-likes, so similar as to be 
hard to pick from the genuine article but 
they grow beautifully. In fact the growth is 
Left: Masdevallia Night Stripes ‘Beenak’ 
HCC-AD/OSCOV 
Right: Masdevallia 
(Chaparana x Sun Dancer) ‘Giant’ 
The Australian Orchid Review, June/July 2009 
25 
