several thousand feet, and sent to Germany many years ago, and 

 it was from the latter country that Mr. Rucker received the 

 plant from which, in November last, the present figure was ob- 

 tained. In Mr. Rucker's collection it passed under the name 

 of M. Candida, which, as Reichenbach has correctly pointed out, 

 was erroneously given by the late Dr. Klotzsch to a plant that 

 had already been described as M. Tovarensis. To add to the 

 confusion, there exists in the collection of Lady Dorothy Nevill 

 a plant under the name of M. Tovarensis, which is altogether 

 different from the species now described, and of which I hope 

 to give some account at a future time. 



Nearly all the Masdevallias may be classed among cool, and 

 many of the species among the very coolest Orchids, being 

 chiefly found at a great elevation on the Andes of New Gra- 

 nada and Peru. Nothing can be easier than their cultivation, 

 if the conditions of low temperature and almost constant hu- 

 midity to which they are accustomed in their native habitats, 

 be duly imitated. It is hoped that collectors may be induced 

 to make the introduction of a number of these lovely plants a 

 special object, for a group of twenty or thirty kinds might be 

 grown in a space that would be insufficient to accommodate a 

 single specimen of some of the larger Orchids, and with nearly 

 half the amount of heat. Among the species particularly worth 

 searching for, I would notice M. rosea, that covers the slopes of 

 the Popayan Alps with flowers larger than those of M. Candida, 

 and of the loveliest purple-rose colour ; M. racemosa, from the 

 same country, with spikes a foot long, of flowers larger than 

 any Burlingtonia, and of the most vivid scarlet ; and M. ele- 

 phanticeps, from New Granada, with gold and purple blossoms 

 six inches long, and the arrangement of which vindicates the 

 propriety of the singular name given to it by Professor Reichen- 

 bach (in whose 'Xenia' it is admirably figured), for it offers an 

 almost exact similitude to an elephant's head, with tusks and 

 trunk complete ! 



Another species, M. coccinea, a worthy rival to the best of 

 the above, is happily already among us in a living state, having 

 been brought over in a cigar- box by Warszewicz, and thus saved 

 from the risk of decay which delicate plants incur if huddled 

 together with those that are more robust. A neglect of this 

 precaution caused the death of many splendid masses of M. ele- 

 phanticeps that were imported by Messrs. Low and others during 

 the last year. — ,/. B. 



Descr. Leaves about a span long, oblong, somewhat spathu- 

 late, obscurely toothed at their extremities, nearly the same 

 length as the upright two-edged peduncle. Bracts membranous, 

 cucullate, enveloping the lower portion of the petiole. Flowers- 



