Masdevallia vietchiana in situ at Macchu Picchu
 

We visited Peru and hiked to the top of Macchu Picchu mountain. All the way at the top I spied Masdevallia vietchiana in flower! I have read that it used to be abundant at this site, but no more. What a surprise and pleasure to see it in its natural habitat.

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Here is the view looking down:

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Very cool! But I'm wondering, what's plant does that huge spike on the right in the background belong to? It sort of looks like some orchid...

WOW! Lucky you that this came into view and you can handle the altitude and demanding conditions. TY for sharing. Stay safe.

Thanks for the comments!

Saki - I’m not sure what that was - it looked like some lily relative.

A very nice form of Masd. veitchiana, by one of the world's premier cultural treasures, in a truly spectacular natural location. No, I'm not the least bit impressed or envious. Nope. Not at all. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Thank you for sharing. It looks like it was a fabulous trip, and it's always great to see beautiful orchids in the wild like that. :)

I wanted to get closer, but that would have meant climbing down to them. Also, someone was posted there to keep people like me from doing something dangerous!

I'm so glad they did their job, so that you could come back in one piece and share this beauty with us! Hey, if you had fallen down there it would have also damaged the plant...:roll: