Ys 
Asia, Africa,* and America will, perhaps, be found to divide the species of the order amongst them, into three 
nearly equal proportions (for the few which Europe produces need scarcely be taken into the account); and the closer 
we approach the Tropics, the more numerous and beautiful they become. Arrived, at length, within the precincts of 
the Torrid Zone, we find them no longer “prone on the ground,” as heretofore, but conspicuous on the branches of 
the most rugged trees of the dampest and wildest forests; attracting the eye of the naturalist, from afar, by the 
dazzling brilliancy of their colours, or. arresting his attention by their delicious fragrance. And here we must take 
occasion to observe, that although plants of this description are not unfrequently termed “ parasitic,” the epithet is 
altogether misapplied ; for, while the ‘“ Parasites” prey upon the vital juices of their victims, and perish with them, the 
“Epiphytes” derive nothing but their stay, or local habitation, from the plants on which they have established 
themselves, and continue to flourish and flower, indifferent as to whether their supporters live or die. The great 
majority of the Orchidacee of the Tropics belong to the latter or epiphytic class; there are however a few that do 
not, as was long ago observed by the same ingenious Rumpuius, to whom we have already had occasion to advert; 
after noticing, in terms of due commendation, the dignified habits of most of the tribe, he proceeds with a sigh, to 
remark :—‘ that among these vegetable nobles, just as among the nobles of mankind, some degenerate individuals are 
ever to be found, who are on the ground always, and seem to constitute a class of their own.” But, it is not merely 
in their “habits” that the terrestrial species are placed below the Epiphytes: they are also greatly inferior to them in 
singularity and beauty. 
The Orchidacee of each of the three great divisions of the globe have features of their own, so marked and 
peculiar, that in most cases, a practised eye would have little difficulty in referring even a totally new form to its 
proper habitation. Thus, for example, the pendent stems and graceful flowers of many of the Dendrobiums, /Erides, and 
their allies, give a character of beauty and lightness to the Orchidaceous Flora of tropical India, which contrasts most 
strongly with the clumsy pseudo-bulbs of the Bulbophyllums, or the long tails of the Angracums of Africa ; again, in 
America, the characteristic features are the upright vegetation (as distinguished from pendent) of the Epidendrums, 
the long straggling flower-spikes of many of the Oncidiums, and a much greater variety of grotesque and marvellous 
forms, than is to be met with in any part of the Old World. 
The uses to which the plants of this family are applied, are few, but, in several instances, highly romantic. In 
Demerara, that most deadly of all poisons, the ‘“ Wourali,” is thickened by the juice of the Catasetums; and in 
Amboyna, the true “ Elixir of Love” is prepared from the minute farina-like seeds of Grammatophyllum speciosum.t 
In Mexico, where the “ language of flowers” is understood by all, the Orchidacee seem to compose nearly the entire 
alphabet. Not an infant is baptized, not a marriage is celebrated, not a funeral obsequy performed, at which the 
aid of these flowers is not called in by the sentimental natives, to assist the expression of their feelings ;—they are 
offered by the devotee at the shrine of his favourite saint, by the lover at the feet of his mistress, and by the sorrow- 
ing survivor at the grave of his friend: whether, in short, on fast days or feast days, on occasions of rejoicing or 
in moments of distress, these flowers are sought for with an avidity, which would seem to say that there was “ no 
sympathy like theirs ;’—thus, “ Flor de los Santos,” ‘“ Flor de Corpus,” ‘“ Flor de los Muertos,” “Flor de Maio,” “ No 
me olvides,” (or “ Forget me not,”’) are but a few names, out of the many, that might be cited, to prove the high 
consideration in which our favourites are held in the New World. Nor are these the only honours that are paid to 
them; for Hernanpez assures us, that in Mexico the Indian chiefs set the very highest value on their blossoms, for the 
sake of their great beauty, strange figure, and delightful perfume; while, in the East Indies, if Rumpuius is to be 
credited, the flowers themselves positively refuse to be worn, except by princesses or ladies of high degree.|| In 
Honduras, again, the large hollow cylindrical stalks of a fine species of pidendrum§ are made into trumpets, by the 
little boys and girls of the country; and the pseudo-bulbs of several of the more succulent species, are used instead 
of resin for the strings of their guitars. The following are, however, ‘almost the only known instances in which the 
tribe do any direct service to mankind. The bulbs of Mazillaria bicolor contain a large quantity of an insipid watery 
fluid, which is greedily sucked by the poor natives of Peru in the dry season; a fluid of a similar nature is obtained 
from what is, probably, a Lelia, in Mexico, and is administered as a cooling draught in fevers; from the roots of 
some of the Orchises, the nutritive substance called “ Salep” is obtained; in New Zealand, certain species are of 
considerable importance as esculents; and in Guiana, the soles of the shoemaker are as much indebted to the viscid 
matter obtained from the Catasetums and Cyrtopodiums, as are the poisoned arrows of the Indians. 
* It has been ascertained, by recent travellers, that the interior of Africa (especially the banks of the Niger,) teems with Orchidaceous Epiphytes. 
+ In hée autem nobilitate, eque ac inter homines, etiam tales reperiuntur, que in rusticos degenerant, et in terrd crescunt, queque peculiare videntur constituere 
genus.—RUMPHIUS, xi., 1. 
{ We think it our duty to state, that this plant has just been receivedin England, in a living state, from Mr. Cummine@; we tremble for the consequences, if what 
Roumpuius says of its properties be true, asserting, as he does, “‘mulierem prosequi amore talem, a quo hunc farinam cum cibo, vel potu accepit.” (!!!) Rumputus, xi. 1. 
|| We could name, if we durst, certain fair English ladies of “ high degree,” in whose head-dresses these pretty vegetable exclusives have already condescended to 
appear. 
§ Ejidendrum tibicinis. (Nos.) 
