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Masdevallia trochilus; photograph desertnaturalist, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIF CC BYdesertnaturalist, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIF

Masdevallia trochilus Linden & André

Orchidaceae · Colombia, Ecuador +1 · listed by its genus as an orchid

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Masdevallia trochilus, photograph desertnaturalist, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIFMasdevallia trochilus, photograph Orchi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsMasdevallia trochilus, photograph Orchi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsMasdevallia trochilus, photograph Orchi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsMasdevallia trochilus, photograph Orchi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsMasdevallia trochilus, photograph Orchi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons 7 photographs ›
Habitat figuresfrom few records
Coldest month, mean nightly low
12.4°C
Aug at the habitat, not a floor; extremes not used (the weather cell's ground is too far off) CHELSA
Warmest month, mean daily high
21°C
Nov at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
2,999mm
12 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
25–32DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in the habitat's months, not shifted
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Rain spread: 70% of the median year's rain takes 8 months, so no short rainy season. rain rule, CHELSA
Not shifted: the shift rule does not apply to this habitat. The chart is in the habitat's months.

From few records: 7 records in 7 grid cells. The records.

Cultivation

Grouped as an orchid, listed under the genus Masdevallia in the archetype table, and Kew describes it as “epiphyte”.

Seasons

The rain rule reads no short rainy season: 70% of the median year's rain (2,211 mm of 2,916 mm) takes 8 months, March to July and September to November. Mean temperature moves 1.1 °C between the warmest and coldest month. Months are the habitat's, southern hemisphere. The habitat lies within 10° of the equator, where the shift rule does not apply, so they are not shifted for a collection elsewhere.

Rain

2,916 mm in the median year at the habitat, 2,211 mm of it March to July and September to November. Wettest month October at 304 mm, driest month January at 141 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 2,008 mm to 4,435 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 2,999 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 2,916 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, southern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 25 to 32 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 21, the highest 90th-percentile month 37).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 12.4 °C in August (across the grid cells of the range 8.3 °C to 17.0 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 20.6 °C in November (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: none read. The nearest figure is 12.4 °C, the coldest month's mean nightly low, August, in the median year (CHELSA); a month's mean of its nightly lows is warmer than the nights a floor is read from. The daily extremes were read at a weather cell whose ground is too far above or below the typical spot to correct for, and are not used.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 66 to 70% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. No cold floor is read without a daily extremes series; the coldest month's mean nightly low named in its sentence is not one. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Group. Listed under the genus Masdevallia in the archetype table, and Kew describes it as “epiphyte”. A group is taken only where Kew's description of the species agrees with the table's listing. The table gives no figure and no prose; the cold floor is the habitat's alone.

Climate across the habitat

From few records: this habitat climate is read from 7 records in 7 grid cells; a page says so under 12 records or 5 cells, and shows the figures as read.

Habitat months, southern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Masdevallia trochilus through the yearWarmest month November, mean daily high 21 °C; coldest month August, mean nightly low 12.4 °C; 2,916 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA. Habitat months, southern hemisphere.5°10°15°20°25°30°°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400500600mm rainDLI 25–32RH 66–70%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 7 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C20 / 16–2620 / 17–2620 / 17–2620 / 17–2520 / 17–2519 / 16–2419 / 16–2419 / 17–2520 / 17–2520 / 16–2521 / 16–2520 / 16–25
Night °C14 / 9–1814 / 10–1814 / 10–1814 / 10–1814 / 10–1814 / 9–1713 / 8–1712 / 8–1713 / 9–1713 / 10–1814 / 10–1814 / 10–17
Rain mm141 / 61–250168 / 102–241255 / 149–302299 / 205–453302 / 176–573261 / 103–539247 / 70–464205 / 68–428254 / 130–440304 / 209–458289 / 188–387191 / 120–335
DLI32 / 26–3532 / 27–3531 / 27–3527 / 24–3327 / 21–3026 / 22–3127 / 24–3332 / 25–3532 / 24–3726 / 22–3725 / 21–3629 / 22–34
RH %68 / 61–7868 / 61–7868 / 63–7769 / 66–7868 / 67–7769 / 65–7768 / 63–7667 / 63–7666 / 65–7769 / 67–7868 / 67–7970 / 64–79

The daily extremes were not used: the correction for elevation, -1422 m, is beyond the 1,000 m either way that a lapse rate is applied over, so the weather cell's ground is other terrain than the typical spot's. So no cold floor is read for this species, and the coldest month's mean nightly low is not taken as one. What that cell gave, so corrected, over 44 years: absolute minimum 8.4 °C, 1st-percentile night 11.8 °C.

How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 7 grid cells holding the 7 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 1808:2043 (-0.425, -77.825). Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 7 distinct grid cells holding 7 of the 7 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1808:2043 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -0.50_-78.125, lapse-corrected -1422 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 1752 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeColombia, Ecuador, Peru · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker-4.033, -78.983 · in the densest population, 8 records (57% of those in range)
Kew's description“epiphyte” · “wet tropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 14 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 7 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 9 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 83 km away. Under a dozen records behind the climate. 7 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 2° block of the 14 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Masdevallia trochilus, photograph 1did not loadMasdevallia trochilus, photograph 2did not loadMasdevallia trochilus, photograph 3did not loadMasdevallia trochilus, photograph 4did not loadMasdevallia trochilus, photograph 5did not loadMasdevallia trochilus, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: desertnaturalist, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIF; Orchi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (5).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Acianthera sicaria Acianthera sicaria Orchidaceae Photo: CC0, author not statedMasdevallia bicolor Masdevallia bicolor Orchidaceae Photo: CC BY, Nicolás Baresch UribeCyrtochilum meirax Cyrtochilum meirax Enchanted Dancing Lady Photo: CC BY, EstebanMHHeliconia burleana Heliconia burleana Heliconiaceae Photo: CC BY, Daniel MesaCipuropsis capituligera Cipuropsis capituligera Bromeliaceae Photo: CC BY, Mario GuzmánCavendishia adenophora Cavendishia adenophora Ericaceae Photo: CC0, author not stated

Other Masdevallia 66 in the reference

Masdevallia abbreviata Orchidaceae Masdevallia agaster Masdevallia agaster Orchidaceae Photo: CC BY, Image courtesy of Chris ClowesMasdevallia amabilis Masdevallia amabilis Orchidaceae Photo: CC BY, Wilson Alexander Arteaga MejíaMasdevallia amanda Masdevallia amanda Enchanting Masdevallia Photo: CC0, author not statedMasdevallia angulata Masdevallia angulata Orchidaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, OrchiMasdevallia attenuata Masdevallia attenuata Orchidaceae Photo: CC BY, Roger A. Morales-FloresMasdevallia barlaeana Masdevallia barlaeana Orchidaceae Photo: CC BY, Philipp WeigellMasdevallia bicolor Masdevallia bicolor Orchidaceae Photo: CC BY, Nicolás Baresch UribeMasdevallia bonplandii Masdevallia bonplandii Orchidaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Thibaud AronsonMasdevallia caesia Masdevallia caesia Clefted Masdevallia Photo: CC BY, Josh NoseworthyMasdevallia caloptera Masdevallia caloptera Orchidaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Surinmenso VoyagesMasdevallia calura Masdevallia calura Orchidaceae Photo: CC BY, Criss Acuña all 67 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Alaticaulia trochilus; Masdevallia colibri; Masdevallia ephippium. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidata

The record

Family
Orchidaceae
Described by
Linden & André
Native to
Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
Wild records
14 in range · 9 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-22names fetched 2026-10-22
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -0.50_-78.125, lapse-corrected -1422 m at 6.5 °C/km; read, and set aside: the correction for elevation, -1422 m, is beyond the 1,000 m either way that a lapse rate is applied over, so the weather cell's ground is other terrain than the typical spot's, so no cold floor is shown
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22
Wikipedia wikipedia nothing to reportasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist taxon inat.taxon not asked
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild not asked
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-22
Wikimedia Commons commons answeredasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 9 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

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