This delicate species is native to the cool mountain forests of Central Africa and we have seen in growing abundantly in primary forest around Karamazovu Swamp at around 2200m altitude.

The picture below shows the conditions it enjoys in wet forest amongst moss and other epiphytes in semi-shade.

The climat in Nyungwe is wet all year apart from two short dry seasons(which are still damp) so cultivation is similar to that for plants from South American cloud forests and we grow the species in cool Americas.

The plant shown in our photo fits the type description well but we also found plants in Nyungwe that are distinct with a red spot on the column and different shaped petals that Jacob is investigating further to determine its status (photo below)