30 MASDEVALLIA. 



A very curious species, one of the saccolabiote group, witli flowers 

 about the size of those of Masdevallia nijcferhia. It was the last 

 discovery of Chesterton while collecting orchids for Messrs. Sander 

 and Co., in the New Granadian province of Antioquia, a short time 

 previous to his death, in 1883. It is well distinguished by its large, 

 pale red, elaborately sculptured lip with a grooved claw, in which it 

 approaches M. hella, but differs from it in the colour both of this 

 organ and of the sepals. 



M. Ohimsera. 



Leaves narrowly oblanceolate, 6 — 9 inches long, narrowed below into 

 a complicate foot-stalk, invested with membraneous sheaths at the base. 

 Scapes slender, 12 — 15 (or more) inches long,* pushing first downwards 

 and then upwards, but sometimes erect, jointed with a small pale green 

 appressed shoath at each joint, 3 — 5 or more flowered. Flowers produced 

 singly by successive prolongations of the scape from the joint immediately 

 below the ovary, and issuing from the sheathing bract ; very variable 

 in size and colour,! but with the following constant characters : — Perianth 

 tube broadly campanulate, very short ; sepals broadly ovate, acuminate, 

 keeled behind, prolonged into slender tails 3 — 4 inches long, the lateral 

 two connate to about one-half of their length, forming at the suture a 

 deep boat-shaped depression, all more or less pubescent on the inner side 

 and covered with warty spots ; petals spathulate, expanded at the tip, 

 into lobes, on which is a blackish purple spot ; lip saccate, clawed, 

 the claw (hypochile) fleshy with a broad oval cleft above, the blade 

 (epichile) concave Avith three parallel or very slightly divergent raised 

 longitudinal lines and Avith numerous smaller ribs radiating from the 

 outside two to the toothed margin. Column terete, bent at the apex, 

 usually yellow above and white beneath. 



Masdevallia Chimtera, Echb. in Gard. Chron. 1872, p. 463. Id. in Linnaea XLl. 

 p S (1877). Xen. Orch. II. p. 195. t. 185 and t. 186, fig. 1. Gard. Chron. IV. 

 (1875), p. 258. Id. XIV. (1881), p. 113. Williams' Orch. Alh. V. t. 203. 



var.— Backhouseana. 



Flowers among the largest, with .shorter tails and hispid pubescence ; 

 o-round colour of sepals light yellow with cinnamon-red warty spots some- 

 Avhat sparingly scattered over the (;cntial area of each sepal ; tails 

 reddish brown ; lip white. 



M. ChiniEera Backhouseana, supra. M. Backhouseana in Gard. Chron. XI. (1879), 



p. 716. Sander's licichenbachia I. t 19. 



* Eoezl, the discoverer of the species, states that the plants detected by him near Choco bore 

 flower scapes 2 feet long ; a variety collected by Kalbreyer, near the upper limits of its vertical 

 ran^e, had erect scapes little more than 6 inches long. 



+ The polymorphy of Masdevallia Chimora was first observed by Gustav Wallis. Gard, 

 Chron. IV (1875), p. 258. 



