CHAPTER XVI. 

 ORCHIDS FOR PARLOR CULTURE. 



LYCASTE; ODONTOGLOSSUM, CYPRIPEDIUM, BLETIA, PHAJUS, 

 GOODYERA. 



THE word " Orchid " conveys to most minds an idea 

 of a plant which grows only in great heat, and re- 

 quires a peculiar mode of culture. To some " Orchid " 

 is synonymous with air plant ; yet a large portion of Or- 

 chids are not air plants (epiphytal) and many thrive in a 

 moderate temperature, and require no peculiar culture. 



Some Orchids grow at such elevations that hoar frost 

 is found upon the leaves, while others are natives of the 

 hot jungles of the Indian Archipelago. 



Formerly, all Orchids were grown in a hot steamy at- 

 mosphere, that being the treatment which theory recom- 

 mended. The natural consequence was that many per- 

 ished under such uncongenial culture. 



The past few years have shown that Orchids from cool 

 regions require cool culture, a temperature somewhat 

 resembling that of their native haunts. The only wonder 

 is that horticulturists were thirty years in opening their 

 eyes to this patent fact. 



Experience has also shown that some few of the large 

 class of cool Orchids can be successfully grown and 

 bloomed in the parlor. 



Many Orchids are remarkable only for their showy 

 flowers, the foliage being sparse or deciduous. But these 



