204 



ORC 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



ORC 



balsamic juices as to produce fine fruit. To prevent this 

 evil, as soon as a valuable tree begins to show a sickly 

 pinkiness upon the leaves, or the fruit inclining to ripeness 

 before it has acquired its full growth, at the same time the 

 bark becoming dry, hard, and disposed to crack ; let the 

 ground be opened for three or four feet, and with a chisel 

 cut close every root the least tending downwards. Should 

 there be any mouldy appearance or rottenness among the 

 roots, take them off, and wash the others clean ; and if the 

 ground be too wet, throw a few stones or brickbats under 

 the stem of the tree. As the roots invariably collect the 

 gap from the extreme points, this cutting compels the hori- 

 zontal roots to work and exert themselves ; and if there be 

 any energy left, they will soon throw out fresh fibres, and 

 thus collect a more congenial sap for the support of the tree. 

 At the same time cover the ground thinly over with manure 

 as far as the roots may be supposed to extend ; rub the stem 

 and branches with soap-suds ; and water the ground in very 

 dry weather. There is nothing so likely to produce canker 

 as the descending root's, though canker may certainly arise 

 from an improper soil, a vitiated sap, the generation of 

 vapour, animalcules, and the want of a free circulation of the 

 fluids ; the last especially often causes it, being brought on 

 by injudiciously shortening the leading branches. The medi- 

 cation before recommended will stop the progress of the evil 

 on the parts to which it is applied ; but the canker may 

 again break out on the other parts of the same tree, and 

 that arises from the roots striking into a cold congenial sub- 

 soil. Tools. The tools wanted in an orchard are : two 

 pruning-knives, a saw two chisels, a mallet, a spoke-shave, 

 and a painter's brush. With the chisels and spoke-shave 

 work upwards, or the bark will shiver : the saw must be coarse- 

 set, all the other tools sharp and smooth. The blade-bone 

 of a doe will be found better than the iron of the spoke-shave, 

 to rub off the rotten bark-moss, &c. See Nursery, Planting, 

 Pruning, and the genera Pyrus and Primus. 



Orchis; a genus of the class Gynandria, order Diandria. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix; spathes wandering ; 

 spadix simple ; perianth none. Corolla : petals five, three 

 outer, two inner, converging upwards into an helmet ; nec- 

 tary one-leafed, fastened to the receptacle by the lower side 

 between the division of the petals; upper lip erect, very 

 short ; lower lip large, spreading, wide ; tube behind horn- 

 shaped, nodding. Stamina : filamenta two, very slender, 

 very short, placed on the pistil ; antherse obovate, erect, 

 covered with a bilocular folding of the upper lip of the nec- 

 tary. Pistil : germen oblong, twisted, inferior ; style fast- 

 ened to the upper lip of the nectary, very short ; stigma 

 compressed, blunt. Pericarp: capsule oblong, one-celled, 

 three-keeled, three-valved, opening three ways under the 

 keel, cohering at the top and base. Seeds : numerous, very 

 small, like saw-dust. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Nectary: 

 a horn or spur behind the flower. The species of Orchis 

 are found, some of them copiously, in meadows or moist 

 groves, others more partially and sparingly on dry chalky 

 hills : they flower in June and July, and are most beautiful, 

 some of the kinds very richly scented. All the plants of 

 this genus, for the singularity and beauty of their flowers, 

 deserve a place in every good garden ; and the reason of 

 their not being more cultivated in gardens is, that it is diffi- 

 cult to transplant them. This difficulty may however be 

 easily overcome, where a person has an opportunity of mark- 

 ing their roots in the time of flowering, and letting them re- 

 main until their leaves are decayed, when they may be trans- 

 planted with safety; for it is the same with most sorts of 

 bulbous or fleshyrrooted plants, which, if transplanted before 



their leaves decay, seldom live, even where a large ball of 

 earth is preserved about them ; for the extreme parts of their 

 fibres extend to a great depth in the ground, from whence 

 they receive their nourishment ; and if these fibres be broken 

 or damaged by taking up the roots, they seldom thrive after, 

 although they may remain alive a year or two. This remark 

 applies to Tulips, Fritillarias, and other similar roots, when 

 removed after they have made shoots : so that whoever would 

 cultivate them, should search them out in their season of 

 flowering, and mark them; and when their leaves are decayed, 

 or just as they are going off, the roots should be taken up 

 and planted in a soil or situation as nearly as possible resem- 

 bling that wherein they naturally grow, otherwise they will 

 not thrive ; so that ?hey cannot be placed all in the same bed, 

 for some are only found upon chalky hills, others upon moist 

 meadows, and some in shady woods, or under trees; but if 

 the soil and situation be adapted to their various sorts, they 

 will thrive and continue several years, and, duringtheir season 

 of flowering, will afford as great varieties as any flowers that 

 are at present cultivated. These plants, Mr. Curtis remarks, 

 multiply themselves very little, the small increase they make 

 appearing to be from offsets : hitherto we have no satisfactory 

 proof of their being propagated from seed ; yet the seed-ves- 

 sels in many of them are large, well-formed, and filled with 

 seeds, which, though extremely minute, appear perfect. The 

 smallness of the seed is certainly no argument against its 

 vegetating : some of the Ferns, the seed of which are much 

 smaller, are now well known to be propagated from seed ; 

 and it is most probably owing to a want of minute attention, 

 that the progress of Orchis seedlings has not been yet accu- 

 rately observed. Such as are disposed to doubt the vege- 

 tative power of these seeds, mav perhaps urge that their 

 barrenness is owing to their not being properly impregnated; 

 the antherge in this tribe appearing to be different in their 

 structure from those of other plants, and not containing, so 

 far as we have yet been able to discover; any similar pollen. 



The species are, 



* Helmet of the Corolla spurred. 



1 . Orchis Carnea ; Great-flowered Cape Orchis. Bulbs 

 undivided ; helmet of the corolla two-spurred ; bractes erect ; 

 leaves roundish, grooved underneath ; spike compact ; flowers 

 inodorous, white within, flesh-coloured without. Native of 

 the Cape. 



2. Orchis Bicornis : Yellow-flowered Cape Orchis. Bulbs 

 undivided ; helmet of the corolla two-spurred; lip five-parted; 

 bractes reflex ; leaves ovate, oblong, marked with lines under- 

 neath ; spike loose ; flowers very fragrant, smelling like 

 cloves, of a yellowish green colour. They are extremely 

 sweet-scented, and appear in September. Native of the Cape. 



3. Orchis Biflora ; Two-flowered Orchis. Bulbs undivided; 

 helmet of the corolla one-spurred ; wings spreading; lip lan- 

 ceolate, acuminate; root-leaves ovate, small; flowers from 

 three to five in a raceme, remote, pedicelled. Native of the 

 Cape. 



4. Orchis Cornuta ; Horned Orchis. Bulbs undivided ; 

 helmet of the corolla one-spurred ; wings spreading; lip very 

 small, subovate ; leaves on the stem many, alternate, large, 

 lanceolate, sheathing at the base ; spike loose. Native of 

 the Cape. 



5. Orchis Spathulata ; Spathulate Orchis. Bulbs undivided ; 

 helmet of the corolla spurred ; root-leaves very many, linear, 

 shorter by half than the stem ; scape a span high, sheathed ; 

 leaves acute, seariose, wider ; flowers generally two, alter- 

 nate. Native of the Cape. 



6. Orchis Tripetaloides ; Three-petalled Orchis. Leaves 

 lanceolate ; helmet of the corolla arched, blunt, spurred ; 



