Masdevallia ignea Massangeana is a handsome dwarf evergreen variety, with 
broad dark green foliage, the plant grows about eight inches high, and produces 
large flowers, which are of good substance and colour, being of a bright orange- 
vermilion, flushed with rose-purple, the beautiful lines down the flower contrasting 
well with the orange-vermilion. The flowers are of long duration, and keep their 
bright colours until they shrivel up. It blooms at different times of the year, 
but we find it is in the greatest perfection during the months of March and April, 
at which time our drawing was made. 
This plant is of easy cultivation, and being free in growth, soon forms a specimen. 
It is especially useful for decorative purposes, its brilliant colours forming a 
rich contrast with the numerous varieties of M. Harryana, M. Lindeniti, &c., which 
have, for the most part, flowers of a deeper hue. Masdevallias thrive best when 
grown together, and form grand objects, a statement which everyone who has seen the 
superb specimens at our exhibitions, bearing fifty or more flowers, will readily endorse. 
They look well in our cool Orchid houses intermixed with Odontoglosswm (crispwm) 
Alexandre and O. Pescatorei, and contrast well with the snowy whiteness of their 
flowers. It is not only important to grow these plants well, but a considerable 
amount of taste is necessary to arrange them when in flower in such a manner as 
to produce a pleasing effect. M. ignea and its varieties grow naturally upon the 
ground, at the base of large trees, up the stems of which they ascend for a short 
distance only, in the wet moss which grows very thickly around them. 
Masdevallias require to be grown in a cool house, the temperature varying from 
45° to 50° in winter, and in summer the house should be kept as cool 
as possible, and shaded from the sun. We prefer a house set apart for the 
growth of these plants, but they will thrive well in the Odontoglossum house, 
especially if one end of it is devoted to them, as they make better progress 
associated together. In autumn and winter these plants do not require 80 much 
moisture as in summer, but many people keep them too moist during the dull 
months, which frequently causes the young growth to damp off, and yet, on the 
other hand, they do not like to be kept too dry at the roots, for as these 
plants continue to grow during the autumn and winter months, they require a little 
moisture to enable the young shoots to develope. We find good fibrous peat and 
sphagnum moss to suit them well with plenty of drainage, as they require 
amount of water in summer, but it requires to be carried away quickly. 
