EXPLANATION OF PLATES 



VOL. v.— PART I. 



ORCHIDE^. 



This very interesting order of monocotyledonous 

 plants is, deservedly, a universal favourite with both 

 cultivators and Botanists. With the former on ac- 

 count of the numerous flowers of surpassing beauty 

 which it provides, and with the latter, on account 

 of the endless variations of forna and combination 



four thousand species. Amidst so great a number 



of variations, it is almost impossible for words to con- 

 vey to the mind an adequate conception of the innu- 

 merable minute points of difference which mark the 

 narrow boundaries between so great a number of 

 genera ; the aid therefore of the pencil becomes 

 nearly indispensable. Under this conviction I have 



which its few and simple elementary parts furnish deemed it advisable to give analyses of as many 



for his consideration and study. To master these, S^^^^^ ^^ ' could, and have fortunately been able 



however, is a work demanding both time and patience *^ Produce representations of upwards of 70, a great 



on the part of the inquirer. number certainly when it is considered that Wal- 



Ti^;,^^ «r^n „«r^^^ f*k-' II r^u ' ^ ^ lich's list of Indian plants includes only 63 genera. 



Bemsr well aware oi this, as well as of the interest i u *-ii • «. ■ j • r ** i 



,.hich f t.ache, JO Ais oro'e. . have been indace" ItZ' Slf Z Z LTIT"' t^ZU' .Tl"^. 



at the risk of falling into many blunders, to devote an 



others, but not the specimens from which to com- 

 plete their generic analysis. This statement is not 



ZZVJ''!''1T^1^I. PIT"! ^^.t?:T^' to «h„w .ha. .Rough much af ha. aheady'beeu doL'; 



being the concluding volume) while so many others 

 of great interest and difficulty still remain untouched. 



Reduced to its elements, the flower of an Orchid 



towards acquiring a knowledge of Indian Orchideae, 

 much still remains to be done and thereby encourage 

 our successors to persevere,* having the assurance 



(I use the term collectively of the whole order) is of still finding a rich harvest of novelties, to reward 

 sufficiently simple, consisting of a perianth (the floral 

 leaves) of six parts; one, rarely two, and still more 

 rarely, three fertile stamens: a stigma: and an ovary. 

 The perianth is disposed in a double series, the three 

 exterior parts being equivalent to the calyx (sepals) 

 the three interior to the corolla (petals) one of which 



less in form colour and 



from differing more or less in 

 texture from the other two has, from being usually 

 placed in front and in the most dependent part of 

 the flower, received the name of the Lip, This last 

 with its appendage, the spur, is the most important 

 piece of the six forming the perianth, from its gen- 

 erally furnishing marks, often of great value, in the 

 discrimination of genera, which the others seldom 

 do. Were the flower complete in all its parts, it 

 would have three perfect stamens, in place of which, 

 it has usually only one, and that so masked that 

 persons who have not studied the family scarcely 

 know how or where to look for it. It is in the centre 

 of the flower forming part of the thick, more or less 

 elongated body called the column, having its anther, 

 or polleniferous portion, resembling, in many cases, 



a little cap containing the pollen lying on the top. 

 On the side of the column next the lip, if atten- 

 tively looked for, will be seen a slight moist some- 

 what glistening glutinous depression ; that is the 

 stigma. The stamens and pistil are therefore com- 

 bined to form the column. In Satyrium this struc- 

 ture is somewhat departed from, the stigma being 



their diligence. 



To assist those who may not have studied the 

 floral structure of the order, or who may not have 

 the means of consulting books, descriptive of its 

 organization, I shall here give a very brief account 

 of it, merely sufficient to enable any one to under- 

 stand the following dissections. 



To prevent misunderstanding, it is necessary to 

 premise that I view the flower in the position it 

 usually presents itself when looked at in front, that 

 is, with the lip next the beholder and more or less 

 dependent. On looking at the flower from behind, 

 it is the most remote anterior portion. The lip being 

 anterior, the odd sepal and pair of petals are posterior, 

 or next the axis or stalk. Such is the usual position, 

 but sometimes it is reversed and the lip is at the top 

 of the flower, and then is next the stalk, or posterior, 

 as in Polystachya and Satyrium (the lip forms the hood 

 or galia of the last) the flower is then said to be rtsu* 

 pinaltj though that in truth is the normal position 

 of the flower. The usual position is produced by 

 the ovary receiving a half twist which brings the 

 lip from the upper to the lower side : or in other 

 words places it in the front (anterior) in place of the 

 back of the flower. How this change is brought 

 about it is not always easy to say, but we may for 

 convenience assume that it is oflen the result of 

 gravitation, for being the bulkier and heavier part, 

 it has a natural tendency to seek the lowest side 



terminal and two-lobed, and the cells of the anther and in doing so twists the young and pliable ovary. 



quite distinct. 



The pollen is very variable and, to the Botanist, 

 is the most important part of the organization, as we 

 shall by and bye see. . 



These few elementary parts vary so much among 

 themselves in form, position, and combination, as to 

 have enabled Botanists, in the course of their re- 

 searches, to construct from them about 400 genera, 

 for the accommodation and more easy discrimina- 

 tion of probably not fewer than between three and 



Beginning from without we find three sepals, these 

 are either all distinct and equal, or the two anterior 

 ones are large or small, divided or entire, are spread- 

 ing or appressed to the lip, are more or less united 

 eitner directly to each other or through the medium of 

 the prolonged base of the column, in the latter case 

 forming a spurious spur or in those cases where the 

 columnar process is broad what is called a menium or 

 chin — many of the Dendrohrums afford examples of 



the former and Ctrtoptrafusca of the latter. Some- 



A 



( 1 ) 



