62 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Epigsea repens, May flower, Trailing arbutus, Ground laurel — too well 

 known to need description, very impatient of cultivation, and we have never 

 known it to survive long, but in the English catalogues we find it adver- 

 tised ; therefore if the proper care is given, it may be raised. Shade is 

 essential, but the kind of soil a matter of doubt; leaf mould would proba- 

 bly be best suited to its nature, and protection from the winter's sun desira- 

 ble, but we can give no well conducted experiment. 



Cypripedium acaule, parviflorum, spectabile, and arietinum — four very 

 beautiful native species. The first may be cultivated with success, if 

 carefully transplanted ; remove from the roots of trees with the decaying 

 vegetable matter around ; plant it in a deep bed of decomposed sawdust, 

 tan, and old manure, with a very slight addition of peat, and it will grow 

 and flower finely for at least two years ; beyond this time we cannot speak 

 with certainty, for " the peculiar nature of all orchidaceous plants will 

 hardly admit of any decision as to their mode of cultivation," until they 

 have stood the test of several years' experience. 



C. parviflora we have seen flourishing in a deep rich loam and shady 

 situation in the Cambridge Botanic Garden. The other two varieties men- 

 tioned above are never found in the vicinity of Boston, nor, to our knowl- 

 edge, in Massachusetts, but their rarity and beauty render them most 

 desirable acquisitions. 



A most beautiful family of plants is the Orchis, and one which in Eng- 

 land has received great attention ; we have no less than ten native species 

 comparatively common, with many other rarer varieties. 



O. blephariglottis and ciliaris, rare ; psycodes, very common ; orbiculata, 

 rare and not ornamental ; delitata, more common but inferior ; bracteata, 

 rare ; firnbriata, a very beautiful and not uncommon species, we have found 

 very abundant in Dedham meadows ; grandiflora, a very elegant variety, 

 found in Dedham and Newton, but rare ; spectabilis, a fine variety, rare. 

 We have often tried to cultivate these beautiful natives, but with little 

 success ; the true method would be to treat them as Orchids, (as they 

 indeed are,) and a full description of their culture as such, in England, 

 may be found in "Moore's Orchidaceous Plants," just added to the Soci- 

 ety's Library, which treatment would, with some modifications, do for this 

 country. 



Aretheusa bulbosa, one of our most elegant native plants. A. ophio- 

 glossoides, very beautiful; A. verticillata, rarer and not desirable. All of 

 t hese may have the same treatment as the Orchis family. We have tried 

 them often with common culture, but with no success. The same remarks 

 apply to our beautiful native Cymbidium (C. pulchellum), a plant of striking 

 elegance. Any report of a successful experiment in the culture of any of 

 the above rare plants would be of great general importance, and would be 

 thankfully received by the writer. (For the description of the species of 

 Orchis I am indebted to Bigelow's Flowers of Boston.) We have but space 

 to notice one more plant before concluding — our native Gerardia — and 

 probably none of our native plants have been so frequently experimented 

 upon, and with so little success. 



