246 MB. H. N. EIDLET^S MONOGEAPH 



tree-trunks in the damp forests. It is commonly stated that our 

 native species, i. Loeselii^ Eich., is epiphytic upon Sphagmwi] 

 iDut Mr. A. Fryer, who has had opportunities of observing the 

 plant in the fens of Cambridgeshire, and who has kindly supplied 

 me with living plants, informs me that he has found it sometimes, 

 though rarely, growing directly upon clay. He suggests, in this 

 case, that the moss may have decayed away, and that the plant 

 manages to do without it. This may be the case, but it is not 

 very difficult to grow the plant in ordinary soil or leaf-mould, 

 provided it be rich enough for it ; and it cannot be said to be more 

 epiphytic upon the moss than Droseras or Pinguiculas^ which are 

 so often seen in similar situations. 



Distribution. — TheLiparides are one of the most widely-spread 

 genera of the Order, only being eclipsed by the much larger 

 ubiquitous genus Sahenaria. Probably it owes much of this ex- 

 tensive distribution to its being equally adapted for temperate 

 and tropical regions. It occurs in all portions of the globe, with 

 the exception of the extreme north and south, and of Arabia, 

 Persia, and New Zealand. L. Loeselii^ Eich., is at the same 

 time the most northern species and the most widely distributed, 

 occurring in North America as far north as Canada, and in 

 Europe to Sweden; while the most southern species is pro- 

 bably L. reflexa^ E. Er., from Australia, i. angttstifolia, Liadl., is 

 perhaps the most widely distributed of the tropical species, being 

 found in Madagascar, Ceylon, and Malaya. As a rule, however, 

 as is the case with most Orchids, the species are very local. The 

 largest number of species occurs in tropical Asia, which includes 

 nearly all the section Cokiifolls:, besides a considerable number 

 of Mollifolise. 



The Stem. — In most species of the genus the rhizome is very 

 short, the pseudobulbs being thrown up close together*. In 

 many of the epiphytic species the old pseudobulbs remain for 

 some time after they have become efiete, as in L. luteola, Lindl., 

 where they are closely set on the rhizome, the terminal one only 

 being floriferous and foliiferous. In Z. Loeselii, and species of 

 similar habit, as a rule but two pseudobulbs are met with together, 

 one of the present, the other of the previous year. In many 

 species it is even unusual to find the pseudobulb of the previous 

 year remaining, and the rhizome also has almost entirely dis- 

 appeared. In i. nepalensisj Lindl., the rhizome is extensively 



See Pfitzer, Grundziige vergl. MorphoL Orch. pp, 14&-152; Crepin, Notes 

 BUT plautes rares Belgiques, fase. v. p. 103. 



