Curtis Botanical – Plate 7125 – Caeder's Masdevallia

Original antique black-and-white botanical print from Curtis's Botanical Magazine — Plate 7125.

Plant: Masdevallia Caederi (Caeder's Masdevallia). Native to: Colombia / Ecuador (Andes, cloud forest).

The triangular-flowered Andean orchids — three sepals fused into a distinctive kite shape unlike any other orchid. Cloud forest specialists, notoriously difficult to cultivate, making them symbols of dedicated pursuit in Victorian collections.

Printed in London. Each print is an original page removed from a bound volume of Curtis's Botanical Magazine, the world's oldest continuously published botanical journal (founded 1787). Uncolored plate. Sold individually. Minor age-related toning consistent with 19th-century paper.

This plate originated with the Royal Horticultural Society and passed through Wheldon & Wesley, one of the great natural history dealers of the 20th century. We came into the archive by accident and have spent the time since trying to share it as widely as we can.