MASDEVALLIA MILITARIS. 
Warscewicz only a small number survived the voyage, and specimens of these are still 
cultivated in a few collections under the name of JZ. militaris. No turther importauon 
of this plant was made until 1870, when Mr. Day, of Tottenham, introduced from the 
same locality a variety to which Professor Reichenbach gave the name of J/. iguea, the 
two plants being for a long time considered distinct species. In 1871, when Professor 
Reichenbach published his first deseription of the brilliantly coloured AZ. ignea, he was 
probably not aware of the extreme variability of the species, having previously seen only 
the paler form collected by Warscewicz twenty years earlier; his descriptions are equally 
applicable to many of the varieties now well known. 
The fullest account of the habitat of JZ. militaris is given by Roezl, who, in 1870, 
also found the plant in the mountains of Ocana. It was growing in countless thousands 
ona slope, at an elevation of 11,000 to 12,000 feet, among low flowering shrubs, such as 
Thibaudia and Vaceinitn, Melastomacee with fruits varying from yellow to dark red or 
black, Ageratum in masses of blue and white, terrestrial species of Onecidinn, ete., 
which, mingling with its yellow, orange, and fiery-scarlet flowers, formed a brilliant 
display of colour. Roezl relates that the brighter kinds of A/asderallia are greatly 
admired by the native Indians, who plant them in open spaces acres in extent, and 
make use of them on festal occasions for decorating their chapels and huts. Among 
this abundance of specimens Roezl and a companion remained for several days, colleet- 
ing the finest plants in immense numbers to send to Europe. His valuable importation 
was, however, doomed to destruction, for it arrived at the port of St. Nazaire on the 
Loire during the Franco-German war, and was detained there so Jong that every plant 
perished. 
The atmosphere at this great elevation in the mountains of Ocana, although fresh 
and breezy, is always damp, with thick fogs every morning, and two rainy seasons during 
the year. Wet moss covers the ground and rises in little mounds over the roots of the 
plants, preserving constant moisture. The differences of situation and altitude in which 
M. militaris grows cause infinite variation in the size and colour of its flowers, as w ell 
as in the habit of the plants, and even in their time of flowering. Plants growing at the 
lower level, in deeper soil or under the shade of spreading shrubs, develop longer, more 
slender leaves and stems and less brilliant flowers, while those growing at a greater 
elevation, in rocky and exposed places, have short stiff leaves and more brightly coloured 
flowers. These characteristics are often retained by individual plants after a long period 
of cultivation. Hence the wide range of variation seen in every collection, and the 
popularity of this species among horticulturists, under whatever name. 
A few of the most distinct varieties are: AZassangeana, with large flowers, yellow 
and cinnabar-red; aurantiaca, light orange-red; Bodderti, crimson-scarlet marked with 
pale yellow; cifrina, light orange-yellow ; Stobartiana, orange- -yellow, tinged and edged 
with mauve-purple. Plants cultivated under the name of JL ignea are of a much 
brighter scarlet than those called M/. militaris; of the latter I have seen flowers said to have 
come from one of Warscewicz’'s original plants. The flowers here represented are nearer 
those named by Professor Reichenbach Jf. ignea than those named by him 1. militaris. 
Several hybrids have been raised between AZ. militaris ( M. ignea) aud other species: 
M. Fraseri Rehb. f. Gard. Chron. 1882, pt. L, p. 143; tube orange-red, sepals 
magenta-crimson tinged with orange ; ‘aised in the collection of Mr. Fraser, of Dern- 
cleugh, Aberdeen, between AM. militaria (AM. ignea) and J. coccinea (iM. Waricne) 
M. Hincksiana Rehb. f., see M. tovarensis. 
M. Ellisiana Rolfe, Gard. Chron. 1889, pt. IL, p. 154; tube bright yellow shaded 
with rose, sepals richly tinted with orange, rose, and crimson ; raised in the collection 
of Messrs. Veitch at Chelsea, between 7. coccinea var. Harryana and AL. imilitaris. 
M. Mundyana, Gard. Chron. 1891, pt. 1., p. 682; and A. Heathii, Gard. Chron. 
1891, both raised by Mr. F. Sander, of St. Albans, between M/. militaris var. aurantiacd 
and M Voitehiana 
