MASDEVALLIAS
Among Masdevallias we have scarce varieties of Harryana, as Bull’s Blood, Mr. Bull’s punning name for the darkest of all crimsons, and Denisoniana, which keen eyes distinguish from it by a shade of magenta; splendens, pure magenta; versicolor, which has patches of deep crimson on a magenta ground, and a bright yellow ‘eye’; Armeniaca, large, apricot in colour, also with a yellow ‘eye’; Sander’s Scarlet, which speaks for itself.
Bonplandii.—Greenish yellow, with a few purple marks. Tails short and stiff.
Caudata.—Upper sepal light yellow dotted with red; lower purplish rose, marbled with white. A dwarf species, but the yellow tails are two to three inches long.
Abbreviata.—Small, white speckled with purple.
Ignea splendens.—Much larger than the normal form. Fiery red.
Amabilis.—Small, carmine, conspicuous by reason of its ‘tail,’ an inch and a half long.
Chelsoni.—A hybrid of the last-named with Veitchii, orange-yellow, with mauve spots and two ‘tails.’
Veitchii grandiflora, a variety even larger than the common type, seven inches across sometimes; orange-red, suffused with purple.
Polysticta.—One of the lovely little ‘curiosities’ which abound in this genus—palest lilac freckled with purple, and tailed.
Coccinea.—Rosy pink above, glowing scarlet below.
Macrura.—One of the few Masdevallias which do not please my eye, but very rare. Immense, as much as twelve inches long, counting the yellow tails, rough of surface, vaguely brown in colour, with darker spots.
Peristeria.—Greenish yellow, freely speckled with purple; yellow-tailed.
Melanopus.—Small, white, dotted with purple and yellow-tailed.
Wallisii stupenda.—-Pale lemon colour splashed with chocolate. There is a curious white excrescence on each side the column, dotted with scarlet.