534 ORCHIDS. 
S. cordigera.—This has narrow, green leaves, mottled 
with purple at the base. The spike is from 8in. to 12in. 
high, and about six-flowered. The sepals are lilac, streaked 
with red, and the lip is pendulous, flat, 1in. long, and 
coloured rich purple-brown. 
S. lingua.—The same in habit and stature as S. cordi- 
gera, but the leaves are wholly green, and the flowers are 
slightly smaller, the lip being crimson, narrower, and less 
pendulous than in that species. 
We have selected for description in this chapter only 
such hardy kinds as are popularly known as pretty in 
flower; but there are many others, both British and 
foreign, which are possessed of characters of interest for 
those cultivators whose pleasure in plants does not stop 
at size and colour beauty. The singular forms and highly 
specialised structure which characterise almost every one 
of the British species form the subject of one of Charles 
Darwin’s most delightful works, namely, “The Fertilization 
of Orchids,’ a book which everyone interested in Orchids 
should read. 
