MASpEVALLIA UNIFLORA. 
i ; i . eee ‘the colouring of the 
Ruiz and Pavon’s specimens—as well as for an exact description of the colouring 
flowers, taken from unpublished notes by the two botanists. This valuable pe ee 
enabled us to give the first complete representation of J. uniflora, the only rawi ie 
Ruiz. . seu e : ver, with botanica 
made by Ruiz and Pavon being a wood-cut of a single detached flower, W hee. 
details, published in the Prodromus of their magnificent book upon the Flora ¢ ‘ ff ‘ 
and Chili. It was evidently their intention to prepare a more complete drawing ke + te 
plant, for, in their “Systema Vegetabilium” a seventh volume of their great W or ye 
referred to; only four volumes, however, were published. No fresh nome "i 
M. uniflora being available for dissection, it has been thought advisable to copy ae 
botanical details from the wood-cut given by Ruiz and Pavon, as shown in the 
accompanying Plate at figs. 6 to 10. : . 
The plant represented as J. uniflora by Humboldt, Bonpland, and Kunth, in their 
“ Nova Genera et Species Plantarum,” is undoubtedly not the original species so named 
by Ruiz and Pavon, and the drawing was suspected by Dr. Lindley “to have been made 
up with the flowers of MZ. coriacea and the leaves of JZ. levis.” This suspicion was shared 
by Professor Reichenbach, who described MW. uniflora in Bonplandia IV., 1856, from a 
specimen which had formed part of a very valuable collection of dried plants belonging 
to Pavon, and after his death discovered by Mons. Reuter hidden away in a garret in 
Madrid. Mons. Reuter purchased the collection for the Boissier Herbarium, of which 
he was then Curator, and the Orchids were submitted to Professor Reichenbach for 
examination and description. The present Curator of the Boissier Herbarium, Mons. 
Eugene Autran, has most kindly allowed me to examine this specimen, which consists 
of four leaves and two flowers, with one petal and lip detached, the apparent colouring 
of the sepals agreeing exactly with the colour-description quoted below from Ruiz’s 
manuscript at Madrid. A drawing of this specimen, together with the small dried piece 
and the drawing sent to me from Madrid by Dr. Colmeiro, may be seen in the Natural 
History Museum at South Kensington, to which I have presented them in order to 
preserve a record of every known example of this interesting and mysterious plant. 
The species most nearly allied to M. uniflora appears to be M. ionocharis, which it 
resembles in the shape of the petals, and still more in the shape, venation, and general 
appearance of the sepals, as well as in the outline of the leaves, with their long slender 
petioles. 
The following are unpublished descriptions by Ruiz and Pavon, the first, sent from 
Madrid by Dr. Colmeiro, giving the exact colour of the flowers ; the second was copied 
for me by Mr. Carruthers, together with much of the above information, from a volume 
of manuscript notes by Ruiz in the Botanical Library of the Natural History Museum, 
from which also Consul Lehmann kindly translated for me Ruiz’s account in Spanish of 
the neighbourhood of Huassa-huassi : 
“ Masdevallia uniflora: foliis oblongo-spathulatis, pedunculis unifloris, longissimis. 
Radix fasciculata, jfibrosa: fibre ramose, Jiliformes, longissine in verticillos. Folia 
oblongo-spathulata, longe petiolata, glabra emarginata cum denticulo, Petiolus canalicu- 
latus, triarticulatus exarticulatione petioli media ortus. Pedunculus subpedalis, erectus 
teres, glaber, biarticulatus, uniflorus, vaginis totidem. Corolla basi lutea ad medium alba 
upice purpurascens, tricornis; hujus color maxime variat. Nectaris labium inferius 
carinatum supra convexum, stagnatis fere forme.” ; 
“Calyx spathe vage. Spadix simplex. Perianthium nullum. Corolla monopetala 
campanulata, trifida : laciniis ovatis, corniculatis 3 Superiore paulo-minori, 
corniculis subulatis simplicibus. Nectarium triphyllum inew-vens lacinia 
Joliolis receptaculo insertis duobus latere pistilli, mavilleformibus ; alterum pistillo 
oppositum pedicellatum ovatum (en Jorma de Talma ) integrum. Stamina lanent duo 
brevissima labio superiori nectarii insidienta. Antherw obovate. tecte, Pistilum germen 
oblongum contortum inferum. Stylus longia carinatus. Stigma obsoletum. eet 
capsula oblongia unilocularis trivalvis. Semina numerosa minutissima. 
lineare adnatum singule valve pericarpi.” 
basi seri cea, 
superiore corolle; 
Pericarpium 
Receptacuhun 
