MASDEVALLIA NIDIFICA Rehb. f. 
Masprvaniia nipirica Rehb. f.  Otia Bot. Hamb. (1878), p. 18; Gard. Chron. 1879, pt. IL, p. 456 ; 
1881, pt. IL, p. 386; 1888, pt. IL, p. 628. 
af L r 29 Ine . x re . . 1 ] ] ] 
Leaf 15 or 2 inches long, oval-oblong, leathery, apex tridenticulate, narrowing below in a very slender 
grooved petiole, sheathed at the base. 
Peduncle about 14 inch long, terete, very slender, ascending from within the sheath at the base of the 
petiole, dull greenish-crimson ; flowering bract about 43; inch long, membranous, sheathing, apiculate, pale 
green. 
Ovary 8; inch long, with six crenate wings, pale green spotted with crimson. 
Sepals: dorsal sepal united to the lateral sepals for 4%; inch, forming a roundly inflated tube, gibbous 
beneath, 3-nerved, cucullate, rotundate, whitish, almost transparent, with a few small crimson spots on 
each side and rich crimson nerves, and terminating in a very slender dark crimson tail about ? inch long ; 
lateral sepals cohering for about 4%; inch, 3-nerved, ovate, pale transparent sparkling yellow, with one 
broad reddish-crimson streak in the centre, and a few minute crimson spots, and terminating in very 
slender pale yellow tails about ? inch long ; all the sepals covered on the inner surface with microscopic 
velvety hairs. 
Petals 4 inch long, linear-oblong, with a strong keel on the anterior margin, whitish, nearly 
transparent, streaked with crimson. 
Lip a little longer than the petals, pandurate, curved, united to the curved foot of the column by a 
flexible hinge, yellow, with three central crimson streaks. 
Column a little longer than the petals, narrowly winged, whitish or pale pink, marked and edged with 
crimson, apex entire. 
4 pau first description of Masdevallia nidisica was published by Professor Reichenbach 
in 1878, from dried specimens and a drawing sent to him by Consul Lehmann, who 
discovered the plant in 1877, in the Cordilleras of Quito, Ecuador. It grows in dense 
masses on the trunks and branches of trees in damp open woods, flowering profusely 
during the heaviest rains of February, throughout March and April, and again, even 
more abundantly, in September, the driest month of the year. 
There appear to be many varieties of JZ. nidijiea, which differ chiefly in size, some 
being even smaller than the plant here represented, and others attaining a height of 
three inches. 
The best authority upon the habitat of this species is Consul Lehmann, its 
discoverer, who says: 
Masdevallia nidifica has a very extensive geographical distribution, ranging from Costa Rica, through 
Colombia and Ecuador, to the north of Peru. Its vertical range is also remarkable, extending from 500 
to 2,000 metres (1,625 to 6,500 feet) above the level of the sea. I know only one other species of 
Masdevallia which, found chiefly in Colombia, extends also into Costa Rica. I have found M. nidifica in 
the following localities : 
In Costa Riea :—At La Palma and San Isidro between the two volcanoes of Irazi and Barba, in 
December 1881. 7 
In Colombia :—At La Bramadora, near Yarumal, and at Frontino, at 1,200 to 1,600 metres (3,900 to 
5,200 feet); at Cajamarea in the western Andes of Roldanillo; on the western slopes of the Cerro 
Explanation of Plate : 
Fie. 1. petal. lip, and column, in natural position ;—la, section of ovary ;—2, petal, inner side ;— 
ig. 1, petal, lip, : ; : : 
3, lip ;—4, column ;—4a, apex of column ; all enlarged ;—5, apex and section of leaf, natural size. 
