114 ORCHIDS FOR EVERYONE 



L. HYBRiDA [L. Deppei X L. Skinneri\ L. Imschootiana (L. cruenta 

 X L. Skinner'i) ; L. jANETiiE (h. Rossiana x L. Skinneri)^ and 

 L. ScHOJNBRUNNENSis [L. Schilleriaita x L. Skinner'i). 



MASDEVALLIA 



At the present time Masdevallias do not occupy a prominent 

 position among cultivated Orchids, and this fact is probably due to 

 the great increase of hybrids in such popular genera as Laelia, 

 Cattleya, Cypripedium, and Odontoglossum. A few of the 

 Masdevallias are show^y when freely flowered and represented by 

 large specimens, but in the majority of species the flowers are far 

 more quaint and interesting than beautiful. Twenty or twenty- 

 five years ago Masdevallias were much more frequently met with 

 in collections than now ; indeed, at the present time numbers of 

 Orchid collections do not contain a single representative of the 

 genus. 



Masdevallias are largely found in Columbia at a considerable 

 elevation, and therefore most of them are "cool" Orchids, and 

 may be grown with the Odontoglossums for the greater part of the 

 year, and afforded five degrees higher temperature during the 

 Winter. The plants suffer from black spotting in the leaves if 

 they are kept too cool and moist during the dull months. All the 

 species are of tufted growth, evergreen, and have no pseudo-bulbs. 

 They succeed in the ordinary mixture of peat and sphagnum, but 

 do not need a large amount of potting material. August or early 

 September is a good time to pot most of the species, but if the 

 work cannot be done then, so as to give the plants a chance of 

 becoming re-established before Winter sets in, it should be deferred 

 until February. The section of which M. Chimara may be 



