50 MASDEVALLIA. 



iiR'li Ioiil;-, pale yellow-green with three i^urple lines on the inner side ; 

 lateral sepals oblong, connate to one-half of their length, the free 

 portion triangular, prolonged into short tails, pale yellow-green, spotted 

 with blackish purple warts that are usually arranged in rows, with a 

 blackish purple line between them ; petals oblong, acute, white Avith a 

 purple median line and another shorter one on the inside ; lip tongue- 

 shaped, hairy, densely spotted with vinous purple papilloe. Column 

 white with purple edges. 



MasdevalUa leontoglossa, Rchb. in Bonpl. III. p. 69(1855). Id. in Walp. Ann. 



VI. p. 191. Id. in Gard. Cliron. XV. (1881), p. 234. Gard. Chron. XXIV. 



(1885), p. 429. icon. xyl. 



A curious species belonging to the sub-section Guriacew, discovered 

 many years ago in Venezuela by Wagener,* and was introduced 

 about the year 1867 to M. Linden's horticultural establisbment at 

 Brussels. It is now in several British collections^ where its curious 

 structure and beautiful markings rarely fail to arrest the attention 

 of the observer. The specific name indicates the supposed 

 resemblance of the lip to a lion's tongue. 



M. ludibunda. 



Leaves elliptic- oblong, 2 — 3 inches long. Scapes slender, longer than 

 the leaves, one-flowered. Perianth tube short, ochreous yellow ; free 

 portion of sepals ovate-oblong, the upper one almost galeate, purple, 

 and prominently keeled above, the lateral two light violet-purple in 

 one variety, pale yellow in another ; tails filiform, 1^ — 2 inches long, 

 light orange-yellow ; petals oblong, toothed at the apex ; lip sub-pandurate, 

 yellowish with a blackish wart at the reflexed tip. 



Masdevallia ludibunda, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XVII. (1882), p. 179. 



One of the prettiest^ and probably one of the rarest of the 

 Gaudatce sub-section of Masdevallias. It was introduced by Messrs, 

 Sander and Co. along with M. caudata Shuttleworthii, and therefore 

 its habitat is within the geographical range of that species. There 

 are two distinct colour forms in Sir Trevor Lawrence's collection at 

 Burford Lodge, as described above. As a species — if species it is — 

 it stands between M. caudata and M. Estradce, and but for the 

 uncertainty respecting the precise habitat of the last-named species, 

 and for the fact that the artificially raised hybrid caudata- Estradce 

 is quite distinct from it, it might be assumed to be a natural 

 hybrid between them; the name ludibunda, '^sportive," probably has 

 some indirect allusion to such an hypothesis of origin. 



* Wagener's explorations extended for some miles along the coast range in the neighbour- 

 hood of Caracas, hence tlie habitat of this species naay be surmised. 



