142 EPIDENDRUM CONOPSEUM. BARTRAM S TREE-ORCHIS. 



the suggestion and at the expense of that celebrated lover of 

 plants, Dr. John Fothergill, of London. The expedition, which 

 occupied five years, started in 1772, and our plant must have 

 been one of Bartram's earliest discoveries, as we find it reported 

 by Alton, in " Hortus Kewensis," as introduced into Dr. Fother- 

 gill's garden in 1775. 



The earliest name by vrhich our plant was known seems to 

 have been Epidendriim Magnolice, under which designation it is 

 enumerated by Muhlenberg, a celebrated Pennsylvania botanist, 

 in his " Catalogue of American Plants," published in Lancaster, 

 Penn., in 18 13. Some years later, Alton named our species 

 Epidcndrimi conopseum, and this name prevailed, in accordance 

 with the usages of botany, as it was the first one published with 

 a description showing the distinct character of the plant. 

 Muhlenberg's name, however, is still met with in many books, 

 and we may, therefore, pause for a moment to explain its mean- 

 ing. Our plant received this name because it had been found 

 on the Magnolia grandiflora by its discoverer, William Bartram, 

 and because it very generally occurs on that tree, although it is 

 likewise frequently found on others. The fact that it grows on 

 other trees seems to have been discovered by Dr. Baldwin, who 

 was the first botanist of the Long Exploring Expedition, but who 

 died at Franklin, Mo., before the expedition was well under way. 

 In a letter to Dr. Muhlenberg, dated Jan. 7, 181 3 (as stated in 

 Darlington's " Reliquiae Baldwinianae," but the year should evi- 

 dently be 18 14), he mentions, as an occurrence of marked interest, 

 that on Dec. 1 1 he " found the Epidcndrum Magnolia' on a species 

 of hickory {J-ziglansy' — the hickory at that time not having been 

 transferred froni Jitglans, or the true walnuts, to Carya, with 

 which it is now classed, — and he goes on to say : " Enclosed 

 you will find a specimen of Epidendnim Magnolitr, taken this 

 day [Jan. 7, 18 14] from Melia Azedcrach, where it had been 

 transplanted last spring. It is remarkable that it has continued 

 to flower all the winter on the Mdia, while in the woods no 

 flowers are to be found." The Melia Azederach is an intro- 



