.220 ORCHIDS. 



display which he witnessed on one occasion from the 

 summit of a rocky eminence, in the neighbourhood 

 where the works upon the great canal across the 

 isthmus of Panama have since been carried on ; the 

 whole country, at that time, seemed to be overspread 

 with a gorgeous carpet of flowers. The extraordinary 

 size of some of the flowers that have from time to 

 time been discovered in these situations is no less 

 remarkable than their brilliancy. For instance Pro- 

 fessor Meyen states that 



"the flowers of the Arisiolochia are famous for their extra- 

 ordinary size ; on the shady banks of the Magdalena, in South 

 America, Humboldt discovered Aristolochia-Cordifolia, the 

 flowers of which are four feet in circumference, and are 

 often worn in play, as caps, by the Indian boys ; and the 

 A. gigantea of Von Martius has flowers almost a foot long." * 



Another class of plants distinguished for the occa- 

 sional beauty and richness of their flowers are of course 

 the Orchids, most of which grow on the bark of trees. 

 " These flowers, " says Humboldt, " sometimes resemble 

 winged insects, sometimes birds which the perfume of 

 the honey has allured. The life of a painter" (he 

 says) " would not be long enough to delineate all the 

 magnificent Orchidccc which adorn the mountain 

 valleys of the Peruvian Andes. " f So far as our own 

 observation, however, has extended, comparatively few 

 of the orchids have beautiful flowers ; most of their 

 flowers are small and curious, but inconspicuous ; and 

 one may travel a long way through the forest without 

 coming upon anything very striking of this kind. 



Most of their flowers, too, are scentless; some few, 



* Outlines of the Geography of Plants, by F. J. F. Meyen, M.D.,p. 166. 

 t Ibid., p. 155. 



