Masdevallia 



read that book. Once upon a time the great 

 collector was travelling homeward by the Panama 

 railway. Sixty dollars was the fare, and he grudged 

 the money. Setting his wits to work, Eoezl dis- 

 covered that the company issued tickets from 

 station to station at a very low price, for the 

 convenience of its cmplones. Taking advantage 

 of this system, he crossed the Isthmus for five 

 dollars — such an advantage it is in travelling to be 

 an old campaigner ! At one of the intermediate 

 stations he had to wait for his train, and rushed 

 into the jungle, of course. Pcristcria data abounded 

 in that steaming swamp, and, to his amazement, he 

 found, side by side with it, a Masdevallia, the 

 genus most impatient of sunshine among all orchids, 

 flourishing here in the hottest blaze. Snatching up 

 half a dozen of the tender plants with a practised 

 hand, he brought them safe to England. On the 

 day they were put up to auction, news of Living- 

 stone's death arrived, and in a flash of inspiration 

 Roezl christened his novelty Has. Livingstoniana. 

 Few indeed, even among authorities, know where 

 that rare species comes from. A pretty flower it is 

 — white, rosy-tipped, with yellow " tails." And it 

 dwells by the station of Culebras on the Panama 

 railway. 



The genus contains a number of the most 

 129 K 



