MASDEVALLIA PACHYANTHA Rehb. f. 
Masprvaniia pacuyanrua Rchb. f. Gard. Chron. 1884, pt. L, p. 174; Orchidophile (Godefroy) 1884, 
p- 100; Flora (Singer) 1886, p. 561; Veitch Manual Orch. V. (1889), p. 56. 
Leaf 4 or 5 inches long, oblong-ovate, obtusely tridenticulate, coriaceous, dark green, narrowing 
below into a thick grooved petiole, sheathed at the base. 
Peduncle about 3 inches long, including the pedicel, which is nearly 1 inch long, terete, with two 
sheathing bracts, ascending from the base of the pedicel, green spotted with red ; flowering bract 4 inch 
long, membranous, apiculate, sheathing, brownish. 
Ovary } inch long, with six rounded angles, very shining, pale green tinged with brown. 
Sepals: dorsal sepal united to the lateral sepals for + inch, forming a wide cup, free portion 
triangular-ovate for about 4 inch, 3-nerved, tapering into a slender fleshy tail 3 inch long, honey-yellow, 
semi-transparent, with numerous minute crimson dots and crimson nerves, tail bright yellow ; lateral 
sepals cohering for nearly 1 inch, gibbous below, broadly ovate for } inch, 3-nerved, terminating in 
flattened tails } inch long, honey-yellow covered with soft minute amethyst-crimson hairs and spots, 
especially upon the nerves, tails dull green. 
Petals about 2 inch long, ovate-oblong, thickened at the margins, very shining, with viscid matter 
within near the base, apiculate, pale yellow, with one crimson central streak. 
Lip 4 inch long, oval-oblong, much curved, very thick and fleshy, with two very thick keels or ridges 
2 3) foe) 2 By ? a/ fo) 
terminating half way, dull mottled crimson, apex rough with papille, dark crimson-purple. 
Column 3 inch long, narrowly winged, green, edged with crimson, apex denticulate, crimson. 
ASDEVALLIA PACHYANTHA was first described by Professor Reichenbach in 
1884, from specimens sent to him by Messrs. Carder and Shuttleworth, in whose 
collection it flowered for the first time in cultivation. Whether the original discoverer 
of this species was Mr. Cross or Consul Lehmann seems uncertain, for Reichenbach 
states that he had specimens “a long while ago,” collected by Mr. Cross; adding, 
“ Lehmann also wrote to me about it long ago.” 
In the British Museum of Natural History there are dried specimens collected by 
Mr. Lehmann in 1881 on the western slopes of the Central Cordilleras of Popayan, at an 
elevation of 3,000—3,500 métres (9,500 to 11,375 feet), and others found by him in 1882, 
growing upon trees in damp mountain woods on the western slopes of the Paramo de 
Moras, at an elevation of 3,000 métres. 
The plant here represented is rather a small specimen, and in the collection at 
Glasnevin, Dublin, both leaves and flower-stalks attain a greater length. 
Explanation of Plate, drawn from a plant at Newbattle Abbey : 
Fig. 1, petal, lip, and column ;—Ia, section of ovary ;—2, petal, inner side ;—3, lip ;—4, column ;— 
4a, apex of column ; all enlarged ;—5, apex and section of leaf, natural size. 
