154 ORCHIDS. 
Centrai India and continental (not insular) America” 
(Veitch). One species, C. Calceolus, is a native of England. 
Those belonging to temperate regions have erect, leafy, 
annual stems, while the Indian species are stemless, with 
usually solitary blossoms. We have already referred to the 
remarkable pouch by which the flowers are characterised: 
it may be added that the top or dorsal sepal is in nearly all 
cases very conspicuous, being large, spreading, and usually 
most attractive in colour; the two lower sepals are generally 
much smaller, united, and, as a rule, unattractive; the petals 
are narrow and long, extending sometimes into slender, 
tail-like appendages of extraordinary length. The blossoms 
are very variable in colour, yellow, white, purple, red, pink, 
brown, and green, being represented. In some instances, 
they are beautifully spotted and lined. There is considerable 
variety in the leaves; those of C. caricinum are like grass 
or sedge; while in C. palmifolium, a tall-growing species 
of the sandy Savannahs of Guiana, they are hard, like those 
of a Palm. This latter has not yet been brought into culti- 
vation. The genus was founded by Linnzus, in 1737, upon 
the European species, C. Calceolus. It may be noted that 
the fruit of one species C. (Selenipedium) Chica, which does 
not appear in our list, is highly esteemed as an aromatic 
by the inhabitants of the Isthmus of Panama, who employ 
it as a substitute for vanilla. Another species (C. pubescens) 
is used in medicine. 
Culture-—The compost most suitable for the cultivation 
of these plants consists of two parts good fibrous peat, 
one part live sphagnum moss, a little charcoal, and a 
portion of sharp silver sand. In potting, the drainage 
must be thorough and effective; for as these plants have 
no pseudo-bulbs, they must not be dried off as the majority 
of Orchids are during winter, and therefore, if the drainage 
is not good, the roots are sure to decay, and the leaves 
