MASDEVALLIA TUERCKHEIMII 



Masdevallia Tuerckheimii Ames Orchidace^, Fasc. ii. p. 

 265 (1908). 



Allied with M. Rolfeana Kranzl. Secondary stems erect, sheathed 

 by tubular scarious bracts when young. Zr^q/*coriaceous, 6-1 cm. 

 long, oblanceolate or spathulate, attenuated below into a slen- 

 der petiole, obtuse, minutely tridentate with a conspicuous me- 

 dian nerve. Peduncle ascending, subfiliform, up to 5 cm. long, 

 bearing two rather large flowers, only one of which is open 

 at a time. Bracts erect, scarious, tubular. Calyx about 1.5 cm. 

 long, subcoriaceous, tubular below, 3-lobed above, the lobes 

 terminating in slender filamentous tails. Lateral lobes ovate, 

 3-nerved, 1.7 cm. long, the tails 3 mm. long. Dorsal lobe sub- 

 rotundate, 3-nerved, 19 mm. long, the tail longer than that of 

 each lateral lobe. Petals linear-oblong, 5 mm. long, 1.5 mm. 

 wide, truncate at the apex, apiculate or retuse and minutely 

 unidentate, with a protuberance at the middle on the anterior 

 margin. Labellum linear-oblong, cordate at base, obtuse, bila- 

 mellate. Column fleshy, about as long as the petals. 



Guatemala : Alt. 350 m., Cubilquitz, Depart. Alta Verapaz, August, 1903, 

 H. von Tuerckheim (no. ii 464). Type no. 5832 in herb. Ames. 



The type of M. Tuerckheimii is represented by a single speci- 

 men, from which the accompanying plate has been prepared. 



[50] 



