MASDEVALLIA XANTHINA Rchb. f. 
Masprvaniia xanriixa Rehb. f. Gard. Chron. 1880, pt. 1. p. 681; 1881, pt. L, p. 720 (under M. 
Wageneriana Lindl.) ; pt. IL. p. 409; 1883, pt. T., p. 598 ; Veitch Manual Orch. pt. V. (1889) 
p- 42 (as VW. Estrade var. vanthina). 
Var. pallida, var. nov. 
Leaf 2) or 3 inches Jong, and about 2 inch wide, cblong-ovate, carinate, apex sharply tridenticulate, 
dull green, narrowing below into a slender grooved petiole, sheathed at the base and stained with black. 
Peduncle nearly 3 inches long, slender, erect, terete, with one or two sheathing bracts, very pale 
green ; flowering bract 3 inch long, 3-nerved, sheathing below, apiculate, brown or blackish-green, with a 
minute rudimentary bud within at the base. 
Ovary about 4 ineh Jong. curved, with six rounded angles, whitish-green. 
Sepals cohering only at the base, about # inch long; dorsal sepal 5-nerved, obovate, cucullate, margin 
recurved at the base, brilliant yellow, the nerves greenish at the back, tapering into a slender tail 14 or 
1) inch long, orange at the apex, greenish at the base ; lateral sepals oblong, 3-nerved, brilliant yellow, 
with a dark crimson blotch at the base of each, terminating in slender tails 1 inch or 14 inch long, orange 
at the apex, greenish at the base. 
Petals about | 
Linch long, oblong, with an incurved keel on the anterior margin, apex tridentate, 
ivory-white, semi-transparent. 
Lip about inch long. oblong. fleshy and grooved at the basc, and united to the curved foot of the 
colmun by a flexible hinge, margin recurved. semi-transparent, pale vellow minutely dotted with crimson, 
apex recurved, with a small cushion of extremely minute dark crimson papillae. 
Column equalling the petals, broadly winged, white, bordered with crimson and spotted with erimson 
on the wings. apex and foot, apex acutely tridentate. 
N°? record is published of the locality in which MJasdecallia wanthina was first found, 
1 or of the naine of its discoverer. The specimens described by Professor Reichen- 
bach in ISSO were supplied to him by Messrs. Veitch, who, however, were unable to give 
any information as to its origin. 
3y some botanists IW. .cauthina is considered to be merely a variety of A. Estrada, 
but Consul Lehmann, who has had ample opportunity of examining and comparing both 
plants in their native habitat, is strongly opposed to this theory, and declares them to be 
specifically distinet, WW. canthing being in itself a very variable species, ranging over a 
geographical area of at least six hundred miles from north to south. 
Explanation of Plate, drawn from a plant at Newbattlhe Abbe : 
Fig. 1, petal, lip, and column, in natural position ; —1a, section of ovary ;—2, petal, inner side ;— 
3. lip -—4. column j;—da, apex of column ; a// enlarged ;—5, apex and section of leaf ;—6, rar. pallida, 
from oa drawing by Consul Lelimann :—7. ripe seed-capsule from a plant at Newbattle Abbey ; «// 
natural size. 
