It is native to mountainous regions of the Andes in South America in Peru and Ecuador.

Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

The calyx is blunt and the petals are oblong or obovate and white or flushed with pink, red or purple.

These flowers do not produce nectar, but the appendages are inflated and bulbous and have a high sugar content, and birds find them attractive to eat.

Another factor that raises pollination rates in some populations of the tree, is simultaneous flowering.