892 THE OKCHIS FAMILY. 



part the colour and oddity of the flowers are chiefly eminent. In most 

 species the two lateral stamens are abortive, and only the central one 

 is perfect ; but at times this condition is reversed. The anthers are 

 variously situated upon the style, and the stigma appears as a viscid 

 space in front. The pollen usually coheres in Avaxy masses, which 

 are sometimes raised upon minute stalks. The roots, foliage, and 

 inflorescence vary considerably. 



These wonderful plants, of which there are probably three thousand 

 species, grow in all parts of the world except the very coldest and the 

 very driest. In temperate countries, where they are exclusively ter- 

 restrial, they ornament groves, meadows, and marshes with flowers like 

 little hyacinths ; in the hot damp woods of the tropics they are chiefly 

 aerial, glorifying them with the highest splendours of natural jewellery. 

 No plants more gratefully recompense the care of the florist, or impart 

 so magic a beauty to our hot-houses. Requiring, however, special 

 treatment, they do not mix well, ordinarily, with other flowers, so that 

 the "orchid-house" is usually a distinct one. They go well with 

 foreign ferns and Lycopodiums. Near Manchester the Orchidacea? 

 are cultivated to the highest perfection, and by no one more success- 

 fully than R. S. Yates, Esq., whose collection includes the following 

 superb and imcommon species. 



OnciJium Lanceaaum, 

 Phalaenopsis amabilis, 



" grandiflora, 



Saccolabium guttatum, 



" Blumeii, 



Sophronitis grandiflora, 

 Vanda suavis, 



" tricolor, 

 Lycaste Skianeri, superba, 

 Odoutoglossum citrosmum. 



Aerides Brookii, 



" quinquevulnera, 

 Cattleya superba, 



" lobata, 



" Walkeriana, 



" labiata, 

 Cffilogyne cristata, 

 Dendrobium alba-sanguineum, 



" Devonianum, 



Lselia purpurlita, 



Splendid collections of these lovely plants are possessed also by W. Turner, Esq. ; 

 Horatio Michols, Esq.; Samuel Ashton, Esq.; and Thomas Brocklehurst, Esq. 

 A smaller but very pretty and select assortment of species is grown also by my 

 friend James Brownell, Esq., Lymm, including several noble StanhoiU-as, and 

 that extraordinary plant the Acropera Loddigesii, the flower of which, inverted, 

 presents the exact similitude of a donkey's liead, ^nth its eyes and long ears. 

 Personally I must confess to a predilection for those two old-fnsliioned but un- 

 excelled species, the yellow-panicled Oiicidium Jkxmmm and the glorious white 

 and violet Dendr6bium nobile. 



Those who are fond of drawings may study these fine plants in two 

 or three magnificent volumes at the Chetham Library. (See " Man- 



