1878.] 
NOTES ON MASDEVALLIAS. 
49 
EPACRIS ONOSM^FLORA FL. PL. NIVALIS. 
[Plate 464.] 
« HOUGH not the first double-flowered 
Epacris which has been noted, since an 
Epacris impressa jlore-pleno has been 
already recorded, this and a near ally are, wc 
believe, the first which have been seen in culti¬ 
vation. They are New Holland plants, and 
have been imported by Mr. W. Bull, of Chelsea, 
to whom we are indebted for the specimen of 
E. onosmceflora fl. pi. nivalis here depicted 
(Fig. 1), and which is much more beautiful 
when seen on the plant than it is possible for 
its representation to appear on paper, though 
a very fair idea of the charming character of 
its abundant rosette-like flowers may be gained 
from Mr. Fitch’s excellent drawing. Indeed 
there are few finer hard-wooded plants than 
this Epacris will prove when well-grown speci¬ 
mens come to be produced. The following are 
the descriptive notes taken when the plant was 
in bloom in March, 1877 :— 
A free-growing greenhouse evergreen shrub, 
producing long leafy shoots, which, when the 
blossoms are developed in the leaf axils form 
crowded spikes of flowers, the leaves being 
almost hidden by the profusion of blossom. 
The leaves are ovate acuminate, thickly placed 
on the stems, spreading in all directions. The 
flowers are of the purest white, and have a 
tubular base and a five-lobed spreading limb, 
the interior organs being changed into white 
petals, which spread out to the full extent 
of the corolla-lobes, and form with them a 
flower which on the face or front view, is ex¬ 
actly rosette-shaped. The spikes are a foot long 
and upwards in plants by no means freely culti- 
tivated, so that with vigorous growth they would 
no doubt considerably exceed this length. It 
produces broader and fuller spikes than the 
plant next to be noted. Altogether, it is a very 
beautiful acquisition amongst hard - wooded 
greenhouse plants, a class to -which of late, 
during the era of palms and fine-foliage plants, 
much too little attention has been paid. 
Another double-flowered variety of the same 
species, Epacris onosmcrjlora Jl. pi. alba , was 
imported at the same time, and was awarded 
a First-class Certificate by the K'oyal Horticul¬ 
tural Society in 1876. It resembles nivalis in 
growth, and is quite distinct in its rather 
smaller, but fully double blush-white flowers, 
the interior petals more distinctly apparent 
within the corolla-tube, the lobes of which 
have more the appearance of a series of guard- 
petals. A third variety, with semidouble flowers, 
has also been imported. 
The other varieties figured in our plate are 
introduced for contrast, and comprise some of 
the most pleasing of the modern varieties; they 
are of cross-bred or hybrid origin, but with the 
character of E. impressa preponderating. The 
varieties named Butterfly (Fig. 2) and Densi- 
flora (Fig. 3) are remarkable for their rosy-pink 
tube and white limb, whilst Sunset (Fig. 4) 
and Devoniensis (Fig. 5) have the flower-tubes 
longer and the tints of crimson rich and at¬ 
tractive, amongst the brightest to be found 
in this valuable genus of winter and spring¬ 
flowering greenhouse plants.—T. Moore. 
NOTES ON MASDEVALLIAS. 
ASDEVALLIAS are now becoming 
very numerous in our collections of 
kd cool orchids, and they are not only 
numerous but extremely varied in character, 
and in some instances exceptionally beautiful. 
They have all a neat habit of growth, which 
commends them to the notice of the cultivator. 
In their flowers some are gorgeous in the ex¬ 
treme, the tints of colour which occur in 
M. Veitchii (scarlet, shot with purple), M. 
Harry ana (magenta-crimson), and M. Lincleni 
(violet-rose) being probably unapproachable in 
No. 4. IMPERIAL SERIES.—I. 
richness and brilliancy in the whole range of 
the vegetable world. It is the group repre¬ 
sented by these, and of which M. Davisii , a 
yellow-flowered species, represented in the wood- 
cut on p. 52, is another example, which has 
won for the genus the popularity which invests 
it. Other species are exquisite floral gems, 
but being of smaller size and less brilliant 
colours they are not effective in a general way, 
and require closer examination in order to 
realise their special type of beauty. M. iono- 
charis , represented in the subjoined cut (p. 51), 
E 
