MASDEVALLIA. 45 



habitat has not been divulged. It is as curious as it is beautiful^ 

 the flower when inverted having the resemblance of a large gnat. 

 ''The name geinmala refers to the hundreds of papillae which 

 stand by crowds on the anterior parts of the sepals, and a few 

 on the lip/' 



M. hieroglyphica. 



Leaves elliptic-lanceolate, leathery, 4 — 5 inches long. Peduncles 

 slender, as long as the leaves, one-flowered. Perianth tube canipanu- 

 late, gibbous below, mauve-purple, paler at the base ; free portion of 

 sepals shortly triangular, violet-purple mottled with M'hito, the upper 

 one with three deep purple longitudinal veins and with a glandular pro- 

 tuberance at the base of the tail ; tails thread-like, 1| inches long, 

 purplish at the base, passing into dull yellow towards the apex ; petals 

 oblong, obtuse, white ; lip broader, oblong, truncate, purple. Column 

 white with some purplish spots. 



MasJevallia hieroglyphica, Rchb. XVI 11. (1882), p. 230. Id. in Card. Chron. 

 XXIV. (1885), p. 584. 



Imported by Messrs. Sander and Co., from New Granada^ in 1882. 



As regards colour^ it is one of the most distinct of the smaller-flowered 



Masdevallias. 



M. Houtteana. 



Leaves linear-lanceolate, 5 — 7 inches long. Scapes slender, procum- 

 bent, shorter than the leaves, one-flowered. Flowers |-inch in diameter 

 exclusive of the tails ; perianth tube campanulate ; free portion of sepals 

 shortly triangular, cream-Avhite spotted with purple and densely studded 

 with short white hairs ; -tails spreading, 1|- inches long, reddish purple ; 

 petals small, oblong, dilated at the apex, where there is a dense tiift of 

 short blackish hairs ; lip oblong in outline, clawed, the claw (hypochile) 

 curved upwards, broad, with an oval cavity in the upper side, the 

 blade (epichile) sub-rotund, concave, with several radiating raised lines 

 in the hollow, generally white, but sometimes pale pink. Column short. 



Masdevallia Houtteana, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. II. (1874), p. 98 (July). Van 

 Houtte's Fl. des Serres XX. t. 2106. M. Benedict!, Kclib. Xen. Orch. II. p. 197 

 (Oct. 1874). M. psittacina, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. V. (1876), p. 817. 



An interesting species, and in some of its characteristics a distinct 



one also ; in its vegetation it is not unlike a dwarf sedge, a character 



by which it may be readily recognised amidst the general uniformity 



of foliage that prevails throughout the cultivated Masdevallias. Its 



flowers are produced very freely from the rhizome, and, in curious 



contrast to the rigid upright leaves, lie prostrate on the sphagnum. 



