Tun Genus Masprvatiia ; rvs History, GeograpnicaL DistRIBUTION, FTC. 
In the more elevated regions in which Masdevallias are found, above the limit of 
forest-trees and almost at the snow-line, the climate is characterised by hot sunshine 
and high-winds during the day, with thick fogs and a low temperature, often below the 
freezing point, at night, while violent storms of rain and hail are frequent. The species 
found in these localities are terrestrial, growing in crevices of voleanic rocks and in the 
shade of the low shrubs which cover the hill-sides. At a lower elevation, among the 
dense forests of Colombia and Ecuador, Masdevallias are very numerous, and are mostly 
epiphytal plants, growing on the trunks and branches of trees among thick mosses, or 
in hollows where vegetable soil has accumulated. The climate of the forest region 1s 
excessively damp and misty ; drenching rains occur daily and cause dense fogs, which 
envelope the hills during the morning hours, but the temperature is warmer and more 
uniform than that of the higher mountains, without extremes of heat and cold, and 
ranging from about 48° to 77° Fahrenheit. The highest temperature hitherto recorded 
for any Masdevallia is 78° to 84° Fahrenheit in the low damp forests of the interior of 
Brazil, where M. Yauaperyensis is found. 
Although the cultivation and climatic conditions of Masdevallias are now fairly 
well understood, it is hoped that the particulars as to altitude, temperature, and climate, 
given by Consul Lehmann in his notes on most of the species collected by him, will be 
of use to those who wish to give their plants the treatment suited to their requirements, 
so far as this can be done by artificial means. In the case of many of the recently 
imported species there is a deplorable want of information upon these important points, 
a contrast to the careful field-notes made by botanists such as Linden, Roezl, etc. The 
Orchid-collectors of the present day are mostly sent out by dealers, who, fearful lest 
any rival should share their profits, conceal even the name of the habitat of new species, 
and allow their emissaries to send home plants without any particulars as to the elevation 
and climatic conditions of the localities in which their discoveries were made. 
The variation of many Masdevallias is considerable, especially in the case of M. 
Chimera, a polymorphic plant upon which alone an entire monograph might be written. 
Seven or eight of its varieties were named by Professor Reichenbach as distinct species, 
but are now, owing to the large number of intermediate forms since introduced, acknow- 
ledged in their true position. The comparatively wide geographical range of this 
species—extending over 400 miles in the mountains of Colombia—and the consequent 
differences of soil, situation, and climate, to which it must be exposed, cannot be 
assigned as the reason for its extreme variability, for Consul Lehmann has found several 
varieties growing together in the same habitat, and all therefore sharing in similar 
climatic conditions. Varieties of M. coccinea and M. militaris are also to be found 
growing together in thousands in one locality, covering the hill-sides with brilliant and 
divers colours. 
So little is known of the methods of fertilisation of Masdevallia flowers in a wild 
state, or of the insects which probably effect it, that we can only surmise the uses of the 
structural peculiarities to be observed in the different species. Only the closest 
attention, night and day, in the natural habitat of the plants, could elucidate this 
obscure subject, and although Consul Lehmann has attempted to pursue the matter 
during his long residence in Central and South America, and probably knows more 
about it than any other botanist, the record of his investigations has been so long 
delayed that it will not be available for the present work. The mossy hairs on the stem 
of M. muscosa, each tipped with a tiny drop of viscid matter, may be supposed to act as 
a protection against the incursions of crawling insects, while the sensitive and mobile 
lip, closed at night and open during the day, shows that the insect necessary for the 
fertilisation of this flower must be a diurnal one. In the flowers of M. elephanticeps, 
the strong odour of tainted meat, given out especially towards evening, may be intended 
to allure some kind of nocturnal fly or beetle. Honey is contained in the nectarines at 
the base of the lip in many species of the Coriacew Section, and probably forms an 
attraction to bees or moths, which, in inserting their proboscis into the depths of the 
