MASDEVALLIA CALOPTERA Rchb. f. 
Masprvania Catoptera Rehb. f. Gard. Chron. 1874, pt. L, p. 338 (nomen tantum) ; pt. IL., p. 322 ; 
1875, pt. IL, p. 290 ; 1878, pt. I., p. 104; 1881, pt. II., p. 236 ; Ilustr. Hort. XXI. (1874), p. 60. 
M. biflora, Regel in Gartenflora vol. I. (1891), t. 1341, fig. 2. 
Leaf about 3 inches long, oblong-ovate, tridenticulate, carinate, narrowing below into a slender 
grooved petiole, sheathed at the base, bright green, the older leaves tinged with rust red. 
Peduncle 4 or 5 inches long, terete, slender, ascending from within a sheath at the base of the petiole, 
many-tlowered, with sheathing bracts, pale green ; flowering bracts minute, apiculate, dull green. 
Ovary 4 inch long, triangular, with six crenate wings, almost covered by the bract, green spotted 
with crimson. 
Sepals cohering for nearly 4 inch, forming a narrow tube, gibbous below ; dorsal sepal roundly 
triangular, cucullate, carinate at the back, margins minutely serrate; lateral sepals oblong, margins 
recurved ; all white, with crimson streaks, 3-nerved, terminating in slender tails nearly 4 inch long, 
orange-vellow. 
Petals 5%, inch long, oblong, acuminate, margins rounded and denticulate, white, with one prominent 
to] 
crimson kee! near the anterior margin. 
Lip a little longer than the petals, grooved at the base and united to the curved foot of the column 
by a flexible hinge, with two oblong lateral lobes, and two longitudinal keels terminating in a rounded 
central cushion, apex slightly recurved, trilobed, yellow, with longitudinal crimson lines and spots, 
apex orange-yellow. 
Column a little shorter than the petals, winged, apex bidentate, pale green, the foot and wings 
crimson. 
Rp eA CALOPTERA was discovered by Roezl in the Northern Andes 
of Peru, growing in thick masses mixed with plants of Jf. polysticta and 
M. melanopus. This remarkable proximity of numerous species of one section is again 
noticed by Consul Lehmann under JZ. pachyura, and may perhaps account for the origin 
of varieties and natural hybrids, some of which have received specific names. Roezl'’s 
dried specimens of J. caloptera were named and described by Professor Reichenbach 
in 1874, and it was not until the last few years that living plants were imported. These 
were distributed under incorrect names, as M. pachyura and M. biflora, the latter name 
being published by Regel in his Gartenflora, with a coloured figure of a small specimen 
of M. caloptera. 
A note from Consul Lehmann upon MV. abbreriata—received too late for publication 
with our Plate of that species—may be inserted here. He mentions several localities 
in which he also found M. polysticta and M. melanopus, the identical species found by 
Roezl growing with ML. caloptera. The region is evidently the same as that explored by 
Roezl during his discoveries. 
Masdevallia abbreviata is contined to u comparatively small area in Northern Peru and Southern 
Ecuador, at an elevation of 1,800 to 2,000 metres (5,850 to 7,150 feet). It grows on trees, overgrown 
With mosses, lichens and epiphytes, in the thick damp woods which surround the Mountains of Amboca, 
Catacocha, Gonzanami, Cariamanga, Hutiana, and Sabiango. These mountain-chains branch off partly 
from the Huaira-urcu and partly from the Nudo de Savanilla, in the province of Loja, gradually sloping 
in a south-westerly direction towards the dreary deserts of Northern Peru. The climate of this region 
is damp and foggy throughout almost the whole year. Even during the dry season, which only lasts from 
the beginning of July to the end of September, heavy mists envelope the forests every morning and 
evening. The annual mean temperature ranges between 15°.5 and 17° centigrade (about 59° to 
63° Fahrenheit). 
Explanation of Plate, drawn from specimens sent by Mr. Sidney Courtauld and Mr. F. W. Moore : 
Fig. 1, petal, lip, and column, in natural position ;—1a, section of ovary ;—2, petal ;—3, lip, front 
view :—3a, lip, side view ; 4, column ; 4a, apex of column ; all enlarged. 
