392 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. . 



orchids. The slides exhibited to illustrate some of the peculiarities in 

 the leaf structure were kindly prepared by Professor H. Dixon. 



Hexisia bidentata, from Colombia, is another uncommon orchid with 

 curious habit of growth. The stems are jointed ; at the end of each joint 

 is a pair of leaves which are persistent for several years. The annual 

 growth seems to spring from the axil of one of these leaves, as the 

 inflorescence occupies the central and terminal position. The flowers are 

 bright orange red, somewhat darker than those of Epidendrum vitellinum. 



Hexadesmia crurigera has been a long time in cultivation, but it is 

 still very uncommon in collections. It, like the preceding species, has a 

 peculiar and distinctive habit of growth. The stems are thin and woody, 

 _ and are terminated by a pair of narrow hard leaves, at the base of which 

 numerous small white flowers are produced, the purple top of the column 

 appearing like an eye in each flower. It comes from Guatemala, and is 

 illustrated and described in the "Orchid Keview " for October 1903, 

 p. 329. 



The genus Maxillaria contains several species with remarkable 

 flowers, and species which are very uncommon in cultivation, as well as 

 in appearance. 



Maxillaria fractiflexa. — This curious species is figured in the 

 " Gardeners' Chronicle," May 31, 1902, from a plant in Sir Trevor 

 Lawrence's collection, and I am indebted to Sir Trevor Lawrence for the 

 Glasnevin plant. The flowers are yellowish brown in colour, and nearly 

 . 8 inches across. The two lower sepals are curiously bent, so as to make 

 them point downwards, and the two lateral petals have a remarkable twist 

 like an elegantly curled moustache. It is a native of Ecuador. 



Maxillaria macrura, a Venezuelan species, is to me specially interest- 

 ing, as it was the first orchid named for me by Reichenbach. He wrote 

 that he was glad to get the specimens, but complained that he had to pay 

 l\d. extra postage, and politely stated that I must excuse him if he 

 refused to accept the next parcel underpaid. This species has curious 

 long sepals, which hang downwards as shown. There is a variety of it 

 with rather longer sepals which Rolfe has named var. longiscpala. They 

 are both uncommon in cultivation. 



The last genus to which I will allude is Masdevallia, and in it there 

 are a number of species which may be classed as uncommon. 



Masdevallia velifera (fig. 61) seems to have been fairly common in culti- 

 vation some twenty-five years ago, but it is now extremely rare. This can 

 scarcely be wondered at, as it has not much to recommend it. The very 

 colour of the flower — a dull lurid brown, with a shining surface — seems 

 to indicate evil, and as far as the smell is concerned it certainly is evil, 

 even worse than that of Stapelia, but not so all-pervading. It seems first 

 to have been introduced by Potin, and subsequently by Shuttleworth, from 

 Colombia, and it was described by Reichenbach in the "Gardeners' 

 Chronicle" in July 1874. The plant at Glasnevin was obtained from 

 Messrs. Veitch in 1883. It is a strong-growing species with thick leaves, 

 and resembles Masdevallia Mooreana. It is figured in the " Gardeners' 

 Chronicle," July 4, 1887, and in "The Genus Masdevallia," published 

 by the Marquis of Lothian. Writing about it in the " Orchidophile " 

 in 1883, Mr. G. Schneider says, " C'est une plante extremement 



