THE ORCHID WORLD. 



[May, 191 5. 



MASDEVALLIA BELLA. 



Leaves oblong-lanceolate, obtuse, 

 5-7 mches long. Scapes pendulous, 

 dull purple with an adpressed bract at 

 each joint and at the base of the 

 ovary ; o\ ary short, angular, blackish- 

 purple. Flowers solitary, large and 

 open, of triangular shape ; the sepals 

 pale )-eliow spotted with brownish- 

 crimson, the spots denser on the 

 ui)per sepal, rarer on the lateral two 

 and chief!)' aggregated towards the 

 outer margin ; upper sepal triangular, 

 contracted into a long, slender, 

 reddish-brown tail, 3-4 inches long ; 

 lateral sepals larger, sub-rhomboidal, 

 connate to beyond the middle, and 

 contracted into long slender tails like 

 the upper one ; petals small, obcor- 

 date, emarginate, yellow spotted with 

 red ; lip with a short fleshy claw and 

 concave, shell-like blade, in the hollow 

 of which are numerous raised lines 

 radiating from the claw. Column 

 \ er\- small. 



This curious and remarkable species 

 IS allied to M. Chimjera, but is easily 

 distinguished from it by its large 

 shell-like labellum. It was discovered 

 by Gustav Wallis while collecting for 

 Messrs. Veitch in Colombia in 1873-4, 

 but who failed to send home living 

 plants. It was introduced four years 

 later by IMessrs. Low and Co. Its 

 habitat is in the Frontmo district, 

 near Antioquia, on the western 

 Cordillera, at 5,000-7,000 feet eleva- 

 tion, where it grows under the same 

 conditions as M. Chimaera, and some- 

 times even mixed with it. 



Masdevallias are mostly alpine plants, 

 which have their home on the mountains of 

 tropical America, chiefl)- on that portion of 

 the Andes that extends from Peru to the 

 Isthmus of Panama, and their continuation 

 through central America into Mexican terri- 

 tory. They are usually cultivated in the cool 

 house with Odontoglossums, etc., but where 

 the_\- are made a speciality by amateurs or 



grown on a large scale by horticulturists, a 

 separate house is assigned to them, in which 

 they can be more efficiently treated according 

 to their requirements, than when mixed with 

 plants of other genera. When a separate 

 house is so devoted to them, a lean-to 

 with an east or north-east aspect should be 

 preferred. Direct sunshine, or even consider- 

 able bright light, does not agree with them. 



