INTRODUCTION. O 



them during the summer. The best season of rest for the 

 majority of Orchids is from about the beginning of November 

 until the end of February. This long period of drought pre- 

 disposes the plants to blossom, and also prevents them from 

 making weak and sickly growths, which would undoubtedly 

 be the case in the short dark sunless days of our winter. 



In this place, of course, rules respecting the growth and 

 rest of Orchids can only be stated in general terms, the 

 treatment in detail being given with the description of each 

 particular genus. Then, again, there are certain species 

 which are never entirely inactive throughout the whole year, 

 amongst which may be named some of the Odontof/lossuins 

 and Masdevallias, besides many others whose home is in the 

 Peruvian Andes and other high mountainous districts. 



It is often thought that as Orchidaceous plants are so 

 extremely tenacious of life, the fact of their dying can only 

 be the result of carelessness in their management ; but it 

 should be borne in mind that we have under the same roof 

 plants from many different countries, whose natural habitats 

 must vary immensely in most respects. Now, if a little 

 thought is only bestowed upon this fact, it should rather be a 

 matter of surprise how so many plants are successfully man- 

 aged, than how so many are lost. 



Orchid cultivators, and indeed all lovers of Orchids, lost a 

 good and valuable friend and instructor in the late Dr. Lindley ; 

 and in this particular branch of botany no one amongst us has 

 been found competent to fill the void. Professor Reichenbach, 

 who was the friend of Dr. Lindley, is undoubtedly the first 

 living authority in regard to the nomenclature of Orchids, but 

 the fact of his labours being carried on in Germany — no fault 

 of his, but our misfortune — cannot fail to be disadvantageous 

 to English cultivators. We are bound to thank Professor 

 Reichenbach most cordially, not only for the valuable infor- 



