THE GENUS MASDEVALLIA. 89 
of a new monograph is es et for congratulation, if, as in 
the present case, it comes with the assurance of careful study and 
researc 
Of all dried plants the Orchid is the most difficult to restore to 
any semblance of its original symmetry, yet I suppose the majority 
of species have been described and revisions of genera compiled 
from dried material, consisting —— om of single flowers. Miss 
Woolward has studied and dra e living plants from Lord 
Lothian’s collection at Newbattle naiheys ; other collectors have also 
she has ens coming from various sources. 
to know it thoroughly, the living plant must be studied in its 
iv e ns hmann has f collected 
seasons of the year. His experience is often a help in the critic 
distinction of species and varieties. For instance, in the case o 
Masdevallia Ephippium, he confirms the opinion arrived at, from 
comparative examination of the two plants, that the Reichenbachian 
species M. achrocordonia must be included here, considering it “to 
be merely a local variety peculiar to the eastern slopes of the Andes, 
e type being found upon the western slopes.” Consul Lehmann 
has found many new species, some of which will make well-defined 
groups where before we have now only a solitary individual, ts 
others, I believe, will constitute quite new sections. =~ drawi 
will be published in later parts of the work, and he will add a 
nears on the geographical distribution of the genus, ‘illustrated 
y a ma 
Th sent number includes ten a forming a very fair 
aieanontios of the whole genus, which numbers some 150 species. 
They are arranged in alphabetical order, but at the end a synopsis 
will be given showing the sections into which the genus is divisible, 
Hitherto this has not been possible, for though Reichenbach has 
indicated various sectional divisions among his frequent notes and 
descriptions in the Gardeners’ egg and elsewhere, they have 
nowhere been brought together systematic form ; in fact, to 
quote the — Mawia Subbalied ra Mr. Veitch, and noticed in 
this J ournal f r 1890, p. 80, ‘‘necessary material is not yet 
available.” With Mr. Rolfe’s assistance, Mr. Kent then ‘ sight 
together those Reichenbachian sections that include most of the 
species described, and indicated the characters upon which t 
n framed; but,’’ he goes on to say, ‘‘as stated above, other 
species are cultivated in a few collections, and many more have been 
described from dried capping while others are but still very 
imperfectly known.” In the na ost de which we hope will now be 
thrown upon the genus ‘isk the-wltini ties, we shall look for a 
thoroughly scientific as all as useful classification. 
