Masdevallia Ruíz & Pavón 1794

Abstract

The infrageneric systematics of the orchid genus Masdevallia are surveyed, following the taxonomy established in Luer 1986 – Systematics of Masdevallia.

Introduction

Masdevallia was first recognised by Ruíz & Pavón in 1794. Subsequent workers, notably Luer, have extensively revised the genus and recognised several new genera. Dracula and Dryadella are two, commonly found in cultivation, although there may be others.

Most are epiphytes from the cloud forests of Central and South America, especially the Andes.

Systematics

Kingdom Plantae

Phylum (Division) Spermatophyta

Subphylum (Subdivision) Magnoliophytina (angiosperms)

Class Liliopsida (monocotyledons)

Subclass Liliidae

Order Orchidales

Family Orchidaceae

Subfamily Epidendroideae

Tribe Epidendreae

Subtribe Pleurothallidinae Lindl. 1830

Genus Masdevallia Ruíz & Pavón 1794

Type Species: Masdevallia uniflora Ruíz & Pavón 1798, Syst. Veg. 238

Habit: Epiphytic, lithophytic to terrestrial.

Description: Plants perennial; very small to large; weak to robust; the rhizome very short to elongate between ramicauls; ascending to erect, rarely descending. Leaves coriaceous. Ramicauls short; ascending to erect, rarely descending; non-pseudobulbous; shorter than the leaf; unifoliate; partially or completely enclosed by 2 or 3 thin, imbricating tubular sheaths near the base. Racemes arising from the ramicaul with an annulus a considerable distance below the abcission layer.  Flowers single, successive, or simultaneous, few to many. Sepals variously connate; commonly tailed. Petals small, with a callous margin often developed into a tooth. Lip more or less lingulate, hinged to an incurved extension from the apex of the column-foot. Column terete, with a hooded ventral anther bearing two pollinia. [After Luer 1986.]

Distribution: About 350 species are widely distributed from Mexico to southern Brazil. A few are listed below.

Culture: Cultivate in moist, intermediate to cool growing conditions with high humidity. Protect from direct, or bright indirect, sunlight.

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Subgenus Amanda Luer 1978

Description: Inflorescence single-flowered or simultaneously two- to many-flowered; peduncle round in cross section; ovaries carinate or crested; sepals more or less membranous; petals relatively thin, often denticulate or serrate; lip more or less divided by marginal folds into a hypochile (proximal) and epichile (distal); column typical for the genus: terete, with a hooded ventral anther bearing two pollinia.

Section Amandae Rchb.f. 1874

Type Species: Masdevallia amanda Rchb.f. & Warsc. 1854, Bonplandia 2:115

Description: Characterised by simultaneously multi-flowered racemes, but occasionally as few as two flowers (sometimes reduced to one). Peduncles round in cross section; floral bracts often inflated; ovaries carinate or crested; sepals connate into a shallow cup or cylindrical tube; petals thin to membranous, denticulate to serrate, sometimes without a callus; lip usually divided by lateral folds into a hypochile and a smaller, rounded epichile.

Section Fissae Rchb.f. 1878

Type Species: Masdevallia picturata Rchb.f. 1878, Otia Bot. Hamburgensia 1:16

Description: Characterised by solitary flowers; floral bracts inflated; ovaries with curled or undulate crests; sepals free nearly to the base; lip divided into hypochile and epichile; column-foot short.

Section Nidificae Luer 1986

Type Species: Masdevallia nidifica Rchb.f. 1878, Otia Bot. Hamburgensia 1:18

Original Diagnosis: Pedunculus uniflorus. Ovarium carinatum. Sepala in cupulam tubumve basi inflatum connata. Pes columnae quam columna longiore. Labellum in hypochilium epichilium que divisum.

Description: Inflorescence single flowered; floral bracts more or less inflated; ovaries carinate or crested; sepals connate into a short or cylindrical sepaline tube with a bulbous or broad base created in part by a long, curved column-foot; lip divided into hypochile and epichile, standing erect within the flower.

Section Ophioglossae Luer 1986

Type Species: Masdevallia ophioglossa Rchb.f. 1878, Otia Bot. Hamburgensia 1:17

Original Diagnosis: Pedunculus plerum que uniflorus. Ovarium carinatum. Sepala in tubum cylindricum basi inflatum connata.   Labelli epichilium verrucossisimum. Pes columnae brevis.

Description: Inflorescence single flowered, although a second flower may be produced from the same peduncle on rare occasions; flower white; sepals connate into a sepaline tube bulbous at the base; lip slender, divided into hypochile and epichile, the epichile verrucose; column-foot short.

Section Pygmaeae Luer 1986

Type Species: Masdevallia pygmaea Krzl. 1925, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 34:92

Original Diagnosis: Pedunculus uniflorus. Ovarium carinatum echinatum papillosumve. Sepala in cupulam connata. Labellum integrum vel plus minusve divisum.

Description: Ovaries carinate, more or less echinate or papillose, the projections continuing forward on to the carinate veins of the sepals; sepals connate into a short tube or cup; the callus of the petals usually produced into a basal tooth; lip entire or indistinctly divided by marginal folds.

Subgenus Masdevallia

The majority of Masdevallia species are included within this subgenus.   Twelve sections are recognised in Luer's major account of the genus (Luer 1986) although all seem interrelated and the boundaries of some are not well-defined. Species having intermediate characteristics present difficulties.

Section Amaluzae Luer 1986

Type Species: Masdevallia amaluzae Luer & Malo 1978, Phytologia 39:185

Original Diagnosis: Racemus successiviflorus horizontalis. Sepala caudata in tubum connata. Petala callosa cum sineve dente. Labellum integrum plus minusve bicallosum.

Description: Characterised by a horizontal or descending raceme of successive flowers. Sepals with slender tails, sometimes clavate in one species; petals usually acute and callous, with or without a tooth; lip entire, with a pair of low calli.

Section Aphanes Luer 1986

Type Species: Masdevallia aphanes Kgr. 1979, Die Orchidee 30:196

Original Diagnosis: Racemus successiviflorus.  Ovarium plus minusve papillosum verrucosumve. Sepala angusta triangularia in tubum connata. Petala callosa. Labellum bicallosum apice laeve.

Description: Characterised by a raceme of successive, tailless flowers. Ovaries more or less verrucose or papillose; petals callous, that of M. scopaea forming a short, obtuse tooth; lip ligulate, smooth or cellular-papillose at the apex.

Section Caudivolvulae Luer 1986

Type Species: Masdevallia caudivolvula Krzl. 1922, Notizbl. Bot. Gart. Berlin-Dahlem 8:128

Original Diagnosis: Pendunculus uniflorus. Caudae sepalorum tortae. Labellum in hypochilium et epichilium laeve divisum.

Description: Flowers solitary; sepals markedly thickened along the veins on the inner surfaces, continued at the apices into thick, rigid, twisted tails; petals callous, lacking a tooth; lip divided by lateral folds into a hypochile and smooth, minutely denticulate epichile.

Section Coriaceae Rchb.f. 1874

Type Species: Masdevallia coriacea Lindl. 1845, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 15:257

Description: A large section of interrelated species characterised by fleshy, often malodorous flowers. Flowers usually single, but a few species successively flowered; petals cartilaginous, lacking a tooth although an obtuse angle may be present; lip thick, ligulate, undivided by lateral folds, apex verrucose and usually rounded, the base often more or less cordate with the basal lobes concave and possibly nectiferous.

Subsection Coriaceae (Rchb.f. 1874) Veitch 1889

Type Species: Masdevallia coriacea Lindl. 1845, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 15:257

Description: Flowers single; petals cartilaginous, lacking a tooth although an obtuse angle may be present; lip thick, ligulate, undivided by lateral folds, apex verrucose and usually rounded, the base often more or less cordate with the basal lobes concave and possibly nectiferous.

Subsection Durae Luer 1986

Type Species: Masdevallia dura Luer 1978, Phytologia 39:197

Original Diagnosis: Inflorescentia successiviflora.

Description: Flowers successive; petals cartilaginous, lacking a tooth although an obtuse angle may be present; lip thick, ligulate, undivided by lateral folds, apex verrucose and usually rounded, the base often more or less cordate with the basal lobes concave and possibly nectiferous.

Section Cucullatae Rchb.f. 1878

Type Species: Masdevallia cucullata Lindl.

Description: Inflorescence arising from near the middle of the ramicaul; flowers large, solitary, subtended by a large, inflated floral bract enclosing the pedicel, ovary, and often the basal portion of the sepaline tube; petals channeled and verrucose at the apex, except for M. macrura which exhibits only thickening at the apex; lip divided by marginal folds into a hypochile and a verrucose epichile.

Section Ligiae Luer 1986

Type Species: Masdevallia ligiae Luer & Escobar

Original Diagnosis: Pendunculus uniflorus. Sepala longicaudata in tubum ventricosum connata. Petala sine dente. Labellum in hypochilium et epichilium laeve divisum.

Description: Flowers solitary; sepals long tailed, connate into a cylindrical, verrucose tube; petals lacking teeth; lip clearly divided by marginal folds into a hypochile and a smooth epichile.

Section Masdevallia

Subsection Caudatae Veitch 1889

Type Species: Masdevallia caudata Lindl. 1833, Gen. Sp. Orch. 193

Description: Flowers single; sepals long-tailed, widely spread, more or less similar, characterisitically connate basally into a shallow sepaline cup which exposes the petals, column and lip standing more or less erect in the centre; petals cartilaginous, usually with a well-developed, retrorse tooth from the callus near the base on the labellar margin; lip usually thin, the usually smooth or sometimes cellular-glandular (echinate in M. echinata) apex with or without a callus; disc smooth or with a low pair of parallel calli, margins never folded.

The degree of connation of the sepals gradually increases in different species so that this subsection gradually grades into subsection Masdevallia. A few species approach section Oscillantes.

Subsection Coccineae Veitch 1889

Type Species: Masdevallia coccinea Lindl. ex Lindl.

Description: Peduncle characteristically long; flowers single; sepals typically colourful, connate into a slender, cylindrical sepaline tube, but beyond the opening to the tube, the lateral sepals are expanded and considerably larger than the dosal sepal; petals and lip out of sight deep within the sepaline tube.

Subsection Masdevallia

Type Species: Masdevallia uniflora Ruíz & Pavón 1798, Syst. Veg. 238

Description: Sepals typically colourful, depth of connation varying from a cup which keeps the petals and lip being exposed into a deeper tube; petals usually with a well-developed tooth at or above the base.

Subsection Oscillantes Luer 1986

Type Species: Masdevallia wageneriana Lindl. ex Lindl.

Original Diagnosis: Labellum panduratum basi convexum oscillans.

Description: Lip characteristically oscillating, held more or less horizontal and loosely, seemingly balanced by a very fine extension from the column-foot to within the cavity beneath the convex base of the more or less pandurate lip.

Subsection Saltatrices (Rchb.f. 1877) Luer 1986

Type Species: Masdevallia saltatrix Rchb.f. 1877, Linaea 41:10

Description: Sepals characteristically deeply connate into a long sepaline tube, more or less constricted above the middle or below the free segments, more or less ventricose below the constriction, the degree of connation diminishing in some species so that the subsection grades into subsection Masdevallia; petal tooth sometimes so highly developed that the pair articulate under the column and over the lip, but usually less well-developed.

Subsection Tubulosae (Rchb.f. 1878) Luer 1986

Type Species: Masdevallia tubulosa Lindl. 1846, Orch. Lind. 4

Description: Plants very small to medium sized; flowers characteristically single, white to yellowish or greenish, tubular, often with more or less similar free parts; petals with callus poorly developed or totally lacking in some species (e.g. M. bangii); lip ligulate, usually with a pair of calli, the apex sometimes cellular-papillose.

Section Mentosae Luer 1986

Type Species: Masdevallia mentosa Luer 1978, Phytologia 39:212

Original Diagnosis: Inflorescentia successiviflora. Pendunculus triquetrus gracilis. Sepala ecaudata in tubum mentosum connata. Petala callosa sine dente. Labellum ligulatum laeve.

Description: Flowers successive; peduncle triquetrous; lip entire and smooth.

Section Minutae Rchb.f. ex Woolw 1896

Type Species: Masdevallia minuta Lindl. 1842, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 12:396

Description: Flowers successive – a second flower often following the first – in many of the species; petals with a small, short, usually pointed tooth arising between the middle and lower third of the petal from a longitudinal callus above the labellar margin; lip ligulate, smooth at the apex or rarely (e.g. M. scabrilinguis) verrucose, with or without a small callus.

Section Polyanthae Rchb.f. 1874

Type Species: Masdevallia schlimii Lind. ex Lindl. 1846, Orch. Lind. 5

Description: Flowers always multiple, either simultaneous or successive; peduncle of the majority of species characteristically triangular in cross section (triquetrous), round in a few species, and variable between round and triquetrous in one or two species; sepals connate into a tube or cup, but sometimes with the dorsal sepal free nearly to the base; petals callous but rarely producing a tooth; lip divided by lateral folds into a hypochile and a usually verrucose epichile.

Subsection Alaticaules (Krzl.) Luer 1986

Type Species: Masdevallia melanoxantha Lind. & Rchb.f. 1854, Bonplandia 2:283

Description: Peduncle typically triquetrous although round in occasional clones of M. cuprea, M. infracta and M. tovarensis.

Subsection Polyanthae Rchb.f. 1874

Type Species: Masdevallia schlimii Lind. ex Lindl. 1846, Orch. Lind. 5

Description: Peduncle round in cross section.

Subsection Racemosae Woolw. 1896

Type Species: Masdevallia racemosa Lindl. 1845, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 15:256

Description: Rhizome characteristically long and creeping or ascending; inflorescence loose, producing several flowers simultaneously and successively; petals callous, lacking teeth; lip thick and ligulate.

Section Reichenbachianae Woolw. 1896

Type Species: Masdevallia reichenbachiana Endres ex Rchb.f. 1875, Gard. Chron. 2:257

Description: Inflorescence single-flowered, two-flowered, or successively flowered; peduncle round in cross section; sepals connate into a tube; petals callous along the lower margin, usually without forming a tooth (M. collina and M. macrogenia are exceptions); lip ligulate, with a pair of low calli, minutely verrucose at the apex in some species.

Subsection Dentatae Luer 1986

Type Species: Masdevallia collina L.O. Wms. 1942, Amer. Orch. Soc. Bull. 11:93

Original Diagnosis: Petala dentata.

Description: Petals callous, with prominent marginal or basal teeth.

Discussion: The two species included in this subsection are probably not closely allied.

Subsection Reichenbachianae (Woolw. 1896) Luer 1986

Type Species: Masdevallia reichenbachiana Endres ex Rchb.f. 1875, Gard. Chron. 2:257

Description: Petals lacking teeth.

Subgenus Meleagris Luer 1986

Type Species: Masdevallia meleagris Lindl. 1845, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 1, 15:257

Description: Flowers successive; ovaries of most species crested; sepals widely spreading, free nearly to their bases (cf. subgen. Amanda); petals cartilaginous with a callus along the labellar margin; lip thick, variously oblong to ovate; lip hinged beneath to the lower margin of the extension of the column-foot; column terete, with a hooded ventral anther bearing two pollinia.

Discussion: In erecting Meleagris as a new name substituting for Brass' Rodrigoa, Luer does not state why he substitutes a new name rather than conserving the old with a new rank. Without delving into the detailed laws, the general thrust of the ICBN is to conserve earlier names wherever possible.  However, in the absence of any evidence for or against, it is here assumed that Luer knew what he was doing and his nomenclature is followed. (See also subgen. Pelecaniceps.)

Subgenus Pelecaniceps Luer 1986

Type Species: Masdevallia pelecaniceps Luer 1976, Selbyana 3:22

Description: Flowers single; sepals thick, rugose, lacking tails; petals callous, subcarinate externally; lip with acute, erect lateral lobes and an excavate base; column terete, with a hooded ventral anther bearing two pollinia.

Discussion: In erecting Pelecaniceps as a new name substituting for Brass' Luerella, Luer does not state why he substitutes a new name rather than conserving the old with a new rank. Without delving into the detailed laws, the general thrust of the ICBN is to conserve earlier names wherever possible.  However, in the absence of any evidence for or against, it is here assumed that Luer knew what he was doing and his nomenclature is followed. (See also subgen. Meleagris.)

Subgenus Teagueia Luer 1986

Type Species: Masdevallia teaguei Luer 1978, Selbyana 2:381

Original Diagnosis: Pedunculus in transectione rotundus. Racemus congestus floribus successivis. Petala supra basim dentifera. Labellum crassum in hypochilium fissum bilamellatum et in epichilium tricarinatum divisum. Pes columnae crassissimus.

Description: Peduncle round in cross section; flowers successive, crowded; sepals connate into a gibbous cup; petals thick, callous, the callus forming a tooth above the base; lip divided into a cleft hypochile forming a pair of prostrate lamellae, and a decurved, tricarinate epichile, thick at the base, hinged by a strap to the under surface of a very thick extension of the column foot; column terete, with a hooded ventral anther bearing two pollinia.

References

Luer, Carlyle A. 1986: Icones Pleurothallidinarum II – Systematics of Masdevallia. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden Vol. 16.

Luer, Carlyle A. 1993: Icones Pleurothallidinarum. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden Vol. 46.