Tab. 5505. 

 MASDEVALLIA Tovarensis, 



The Tovar Masdevattia. 



Nat. Ord. Orchide.e. — Gynandria Monandria. 

 Gen. Char. {Vide supra, Tab. 5476.) 



Masdevallia Tovarensis ; foliis oblongis subspathulatis apice rotundatis obso- 

 lete tridentatis pedunculo ancipiti bifloro subaequalibus, bracteis membrana- 

 ceis cucullatis, sepalis connatis, supremo anguste lanceolato in aristam Ion- 

 gam producto, lateralibus ovatis multo ultra connatis dein liberis obtusis, 

 arista brevi in apice, petalis oblongis subacutis incurvis, labello oblongo, 

 medio margine utrinque emarginato acuto, nervis 3 prorainulis lateralibus 

 elevatis cristatis, androclinii margine dentato. Reichenbach Jil. auibusdatn 

 mutatis. 



Masdevallia Tovarensis. Reich, jil. in Bonplandia, v. 3. p. 24 ; v. 2. p. 28. 



Masdevallia Candida. Klotzsch, Karsten. 



The genus Masdevallia was specially selected by Dr. Lindley, 

 when announcing the preparation of his ' Folia Orchidacea/ to 

 illustrate the astonishing progress that had been made in our 

 knowledge of Orchids since the publication, a quarter of a cen- 

 tury before, of his 'Genera and Species/ In the latter work only 

 three Masdevallias were described, though the number had risen 

 to nearly forty at the time above referred to, and it has been 

 largely augmented since then. But however plentiful the Mas- 

 devallias in their native wilds, they have made their way slowly 

 and reluctantly to the gardens of Europe, in which scarcely half- 

 a-dozen — and these among the most insignificant of the race — 

 have as yet produced flowers. The species, however, that is re- 

 presented in the accompanying Plate will convey a more ade- 

 quate notion of the attractiveness of its family, and may well 

 challenge the attention, not of the botanist merely, but of every 

 cultivator of rare and beautiful plants. 



Masdevallia Tovarensis, as its name implies, is a native of 

 Tovar, in Columbia, where it was discovered at an elevation of 



APRIL 1st, 1865. 



