206 



THE ORCHID WORLD. 



[August, 1916. 



MASDEVALLIA EPHIPPIUM. 



ALTHOUGH this species appears to 

 have been known to Linden and 

 others as M. Trochikis no botanical 

 description was pubhshed until 1873, when 

 Reichenbach described it as M. Ephippium, 

 under which name, the earhest published, 

 it must in future be known. 



Gustav Walks, the original discoverer and 

 a most trustworthy observer, gives the follow- 

 ing account in the Gardeners Chronicle, 1875, 

 L, p. 504 : — " In the year 1868 I first met with 

 this plant, growing" in the frosty heights of 

 the Sonson district in New Granada. The 

 whole of the plants which I then remitted to 

 Europe died, and I afterwards sent others m 

 the year 1872 to Mons. Linden, of Brussels. 

 This Masdevallia suffers greatly from tropical 

 heat, and from excess of heat generally. Only 

 a dozen out of 200 plants arrived in Europe 

 the first time — I brought them under my 

 personal care. The name Colibri, which is 

 given to this plant in its native country, is 

 simply an allusion to the fantastic bird-like 

 appearance of the flower. There is a pecu- 

 liarity of the plant well worth mentioning, 

 and that is its power of producing out of the 

 same spathe several subsequent flowers. It 

 is possible, therefore, that this Masdevallia in 

 its native place has two flowering seasons 

 each year. The strong and compactl)--formed 

 root-balls get sometimes to a considerable 

 size and weight. The plant, being once 

 established, must possess an extraordinary 

 vital power. It has the happy faculty of 

 growing and doing well under any conditions. 

 It grows quite as well in a loose compost as 

 on the bark of trees or on decomposed pieces 

 of trunk, and even m a common heavy soil. 

 The amateur will also appreciate its habit of 

 growing m highly elevated regions, as cold as 

 any Masdevallia can exist in, not even 

 excepting M. elephanticeps." 



According to Consul Lehmann, M. 

 Ephippium (Trochilus) has the largest 

 geographical distribution of any Masdevallia. 

 It was first discovered by Walks in the State 

 of Antioquia in Colombia, where it grows at 

 various places at an elevation of 6,000 — 7,000 



feet, and in huge but not very dense woods, 

 high on trees. Firom Antioquia the first 

 specimens were introduced into Europe. In 

 1877 it was observed by Lehmann all along 

 the western slopes of the Central Andes of 

 the State of Cauca. 



Masdevallia Ephippium. 



