NEW OR NOTEWORTHY ORCHIDS 
are yellow, whereas they are noted as olive green with purple 
markings in the form from Panama described as P. Powellii. 
Furthermore, P. costaricensis occurs at an altitude of 1463- 
1950 feet, while P. Powellii was collected at an altitude of 
4000 feet. 
Polystachya masayensis Reichb. f. in Bonplandia 
3 (1855) 217. 
This species was originally described from specimens 
found on Mt. Masaya in Nicaragua. The range was ex¬ 
tended by Fendler and more recently by C. W. Powell to 
Panama. An abundance of material has been sent to us from 
Costa Rica by various collectors. Among recent collections 
a somewhat confusing form has appeared. It does not differ 
from the usual plant in height or in its dense, commonly 
racemose, inflorescence; but it diverges markedly in the 
generally prominent pseudobulbous base of the stems, in 
being commonly leafless (the articulated sheaths show that 
the leaves have fallen away), and in the generally larger 
flowers with more spreading and conspicuous side-lobes to 
the lip. These differences are so marked that without 
abundant material one would be tempted to consider this 
form a distinct species. But some of the plants examined, 
■which appear to be inseparable from the variant, have the 
stems more slender at the base and bear one or more leaves. 
Furthermore, the plants in a large collection recently re¬ 
ceived from Costa Rica are vegetatively indistinguishable 
from the common form of P. masayensis and bear smaller 
flowers in which the characters of the lip are now of the 
variant and now of the species. 
The plants of the entire series have the contracted 
growth, the more or less swollen base and the dense, com¬ 
monly racemose yellowish flowers with pubescent ovary 
characteristic of typical P. masayensis. Since the diverging 
characters are variable, it does not seem wise to attempt even 
varietal segregation. Furthermore, because of the inter¬ 
mediate forms, it appears inadvisable to recognize the var. 
^latior Reichb. f. 
77 
