36 MASDKVALl.IA. 



in form, and also to the improvement to which it is susceptible under 

 cultivation; these causes have tended to render this Masdevallia one o£ 

 the most popular in cultivation, as is amply testified by the numerous 

 illustrations of it quoted in page 'Si* it was discovered by Chesterton, 

 in 1871, near Sogamosa, and was introduced by us in the same 

 year. Its principal locality is on the eastern Cordillera, between 

 Sogamosa and Concepcion, where its vertical range is 7,000 — 10,000 

 feet ; it is particularly abundant on that part of the Cordillera 

 called the Sierra Nevada de Chita, where it spreads in uninterrupted 

 masses for miles, covering acres upon acres of the upland slopes, 

 growing in the partial shade afforded by the low shrubs that abound 

 in the place. When in bloom these masses of Masdevallia present 

 one of the most striking floral sights it is possible to behold, even 

 in tropical lands ; it is not only the dazzhng brilliancy of the 

 colours displayed by the countless thousands of flowers, but also 

 their astonishing variety ; there is scarcely a shade of colour from 

 the deep rich crimson-purple of BuU'.-^ Blood, through magenta- 

 crimson, crimson-scarlet, scarlet, orange, yellow, to cream-white that 

 is not represented in greater or less abundance, the lighter shades 

 of yellow being the rarest. In the lower limits of its range 

 the leaves are longer, narrower and deeper in colour, the plants 

 less floriferous, the flowers somewhat smaller and of a uniform 

 colour, merging into that of the form known in gardens as M. Lindenii, 

 which always occupies the lower zone of the vertical range of the 

 species. On ascending towards the higher limits the foliage becomes 

 dwarfer and paler in colour, and the flowers larger and more 

 variable in colour ; it is only at and near the upper limit that 

 the pale yellow and white varieties occur. 



M. coriacea. 



Leaves linear-lanceolate, very coriaceous, almost fleshj^, 5 — 7 inclies 

 long, deep green witli a sunk mid-line above, pale green and obscurely 

 keeled beneath. Scapes as long as, sometimes shorter than tlie leaves, 

 pale green dotted with dull purple, with an appressed bract at the joint 

 below the ovary, one-flowered. Perianth tube broadly cylindric, whitish 

 yellow with some purple dots along the veins ; free portion of upper 



* The fine specimens of many of the Harryana varieties in the collection of Sir Trevor 

 Lawrence, Bart., M.P. , at Burford Lodge, Dorking, are the .idmiration of all who have had the 

 privilege of seeing them. 



