THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK 



exhibitions wliich the Council had decided upon. The exhibitions 

 for February, March and April are to be held at the American 

 Museum of Natural History, in the West Assembly Hall, while 

 that for May and those of the summer months will take place 

 at the New York Botanical Garden. 



There being no other business before the meeting, a lecture was 

 given by Mr. George V. Nash upon " Orchids, Wild and Culti- 

 vated," illustrated with colored lantern slides. This was deliv- 

 ered in place of the intended lecture by Dr. Murrill, who, on 

 account of illness, was compelled to postpone until a future date 

 his lecture upon " The Chestnut Canker, and Other Fungous 

 Diseases of Trees." 



Mr. Nash described the differences between the orchid flower and the 

 flowers of related plants. He took the lily as typical of the endogens, 

 the large class to which the orchids belong; in this the stamens and 

 pistils are free. In the orchid flower these organs are united into a 

 single body, known as the column, which is their distinctive feature. 

 With a series of slides he showed the gradual development of the lip of 

 the orchid from a small organ, through various stages, to the highly 

 specialized form in which it occurs in the lady's slipper and related 

 genera. Attention was called to the thickening of the stems. In some 

 this occurred in the whole length of the stem, as in Deiidrobium, while in 

 others the stem was reduced to a small thickened portion, known as the 

 pseudobulb, well represented in many of the genus Epidendrnm. In 

 either case this provision was for the storing of water to carry the plants 

 through long periods of drought, to which their habitat on trees subjects 

 many of them. 



Orchids are mainly found in tropical and warm temperate regions. 

 There are about 6,000 to 7,000 species known. In the United States there 

 are about 150 species and 44 genera. These are mostly terrestrial, for 

 they occur in the colder parts of the range, where they are subjected to 

 freezing. The epiphytic forms are found only in Georgia and Florida, 

 and along the Gulf States. A series of colored lantern slides illustrated 

 some of the more common wild and cultivated orchids. 



George V. Nash, 



Secretary. 

 February 8, 19 11 



A meeting of the society was held at the American Museum of 

 Natural History on Wednesday, February 8, 191 1 at 3:30 P.^VI., 

 the president in the chair. 



The minutes of the meeting of January 11, 191 1, were read and 

 approved. 



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