This new species was found at about 700 m elevation in the mountains near the city of Rio de Contas, in the locality known as Marion. This town is located in the southern portion of the Diamantina Plateau, Bahia State, where "Caatinga" and "Campo Rupestre" vegetation types predominate. These provide a sheltering rich vegetation type composed of a mosaic of grasslands on rocky soils and rock outcrops. The isolation of a myriad of plant habitats in the domain of the Caatinga, where O. crassifolium was found, as well as the nearby Campo rupestre has lead to high levels of endemism and species diversity, the species described being a good example of the local biodiversity.
Orthophytum riocontense grows as on sandstone outcrops, where the plants inhabit shallow cavities in slightly inclined to nearly vertical rock filled with sand derived from the weathering of the parent material, and organic material derived from the decaying of the scarce shrubby vegetation covering the nearby slopes. The resulting substrate is acidic and nutrient poor. Despite the marked leaf succulence of this new species, part of its population in type locality was settled very close to a waterfall, which provide a perennial source of water for the neighboring plants. —SeeJ. Bromeliad Soc.
