^FASDEVALLIA. 



47 



variety of situations, a circumstance which has influenced the habit 

 of the plants and the colour of the flowers ; thus, at and near 

 the lower limits of its vertical range, where the soil is deeper 

 and where the plants are often in partial shade, the leaves 

 are longer and less rigid, the peduncles are longer and more 

 slender, and the flowers uniform in colour ; towards the higher 

 limits the plants become somewhat dwarfer and the flowers vary a 



Masdevallia ignca. 



little in colour. On account of the brilliant colour of the flowers, 

 and the improvement of which the species is susceptible under 

 cultivation, M. Ignea has become a general favourite amongst 

 orchid amateurs.* 



M. infracta. 



Leaves lanceolate, leathery, .5 — 6 inches long, bright .glossy green. 

 Scapes tlu'ee-angled, twisted, longer than the leaves. Perianth 

 tube broadly campanulate, bent, with a prominent rib above and a 



* It is with mucli hesitation that we retain this species under the name it is described above, 

 believing that it shoukl be referred to MasdevnUia militaris, KchI). , which liad been introduced 

 by Warscewicz troni the same locality twenty years earlier. As we have, tiius (ar, been unable 

 to obtain satisfactory proof of the identity of the two species, and moreover as M. militaris is 

 said to be constitutionally distinct from the M. ignea in cultivation, it seems to us that the best 

 cour.se is to keep them separate for the present. 



