According to Baron Humboldt, the shady vallies of the 

 Andes of Mexico, New Granada, Quito, and Peru, situ- 

 ated between the elevations of 800 and 1100 fathoms, 

 where refreshing breezes and vernal warmth prevail the year 

 through, are rivalled by no part of the globe in the number 

 of the species, the beauty and fragrance of the blossom, as 

 well as the fullness and brilliancy of the foliage of their Or- 

 chideoe. He calculates that not a twentieth part of the 

 species belonging to those regions have been observed by the 

 botanist; and remarks, that while the whole of Europe 

 affords about 70 or 80, the tropical portion of America 

 alone, although yet so cursorily explored in its mountainous 

 districts, has presented us with 244, of which 61 were dis- 

 covered by himself and M. Bonpland. 



Scarcely any of the species with a spurred label are found 

 in tropical regions, that section of their type belonging prin- 

 cipally to the temperate and fripd zones. Orchis, Ha- 



BENARIA, CyPRIPEDIUM, OPHRYS, SeRAPIAS, EpIPACTIS, &C. 



&c. are the prevailing groups in our northern hemisphere * ; 

 Satvrium, Pterygodium, Disperis, Corycium, Disa, Pte- 

 ROSTYUS, Caladenia, &c. &c. of the southcm. 



The equatorial Orchidece are principally of the Epi- 

 dendrous section, and differ from their coordinates of the 

 temperate zones in being gregarious and parasitical. 



* Bxcellent and accurate figures of several of these geDera, so rare in our 

 collections, may be seen in " The Journal of Science and the 

 Arts." 



