ORCHIDS 



ORCHIDS 



2389 



touching the adhesive disk with the stick or lead-pencil. 

 Usually several pollen - masses will be thus withdrawn, 

 but as a rule it is best to place only a single one upon 

 each stigma. Fewer seeds are thus ripened but these 

 are better nourished and produce more vigorous seed- 

 lings than seeds from full capsules. The methods of 

 sowing the seed are the same as already described. 



The nomenclature that has been most frequently 

 adopted (aside from treating them as direct species 

 names) for simple orchid hybrids between two species 

 of the same genus consists in the application to the 

 hybrid of a Latin name of specific rank but preceded 

 by a x. Thus Calanthe x Veitchii signifies that the 

 plant so named is a hybrid between two species of 

 Calanthe. Sometimes non-latinized names are used, as 

 Cattleya x "Nymph." In the case of bigeneric or 

 trigeneric hybrids, the name of the hybrid is usually 

 formed by the combination of parts of the names of 

 the parents or of the whole name of one parent and part 

 of that of the other, as Epiphronitis (Epidendrum and 

 Sophronitis), Lseliocattleya (Laelia and Cattleya), 

 Brassocattlselia (Brassavola, Cattleya, and Laelia). 



These are writ- 

 ten as one word 

 without hyphens 

 or capitals at the 

 beginning of the 

 second or third 

 parts. For 

 further de- 

 tails concerning 

 orchid hybrids 

 and lists of all 

 known forms, 

 see G. Hansen, 

 "The Orchid 

 Hybrids," Lon- 

 don, 1895; E. 

 Bohnhof : "Dic- 

 tionnaire des 

 Orchidees Hy- 

 brides," Paris, 

 1895;R.A.Rolfe 

 and C. C. Hurst, 

 "The Orchid 

 Stud-book," 

 Kew, 1909, and 

 Sander & Sons, 

 "Orchid Hy- 

 brids," St. Al- 

 bans, 1912 (?). 

 For other sug- 

 gestions on the nomenclature of orchid hybrids, see the 

 entries Adamara, Linneara, Lowiara. 



Foliage plants. 



The Physureae, a small group of orchids distributed 

 in tropical Asia and the Malay Islands, with a few 

 species in Africa and North America, are remarkable for 

 their beautifully variegated leaves (Physurus, Ancecto- 

 chilus). The plants themselves are usually small, with 

 the habit of Goodyera, a North American representative 

 of the group. Variegated or mottled leaves occur also 

 in some other groups (Cypripedium, Goodyera, Phal- 

 senopsis, and Oncidium). 



Historical sketch. 



While the native orchids of Europe excited the inter- 

 est of the herbalists of the sixteenth century, the epiphy- 

 tic forms of the tropics did not become known to botan- 

 ists until a much later period. By the end of the 

 seventeenth century, a few species had been described 

 and figured by Rheede tot Draakenstein, Sloane, Plum- 

 ier, and others. In the second edition of Linnaeus' 

 "Species Plantarum" (1763), thirty species of epiphytic 

 orchids are described under Epidendrum, which, at 



2653. Seeds of orchids. a, Listera ovata ; 

 b, Stanhopea Warscewiczii; c, Monnodes 

 Buccinator; d, M. viridiflora; e, M. pardina 

 var. unicolor; /, Orchis secundiflora; g, 

 Sturnia Loeselii; f, Octomeria lancifolia. 



that time, was made to include all epiphytic orchids 

 from the tropics. In 1805, Willdenow, in his edition of 

 the "Species Plantarum," listed 391 orchids, including 

 140 epiphytic species. In the nineteenth century, 

 through the exertions of many collectors, the number 

 of known tropical orchids rose rapidly. For the descrip- 

 tions of the numerous 

 forms coming in during 

 that time we are chiefly 

 indebted to efforts of 

 Lindley and of Reichen- 

 bach. 



Attempts at the culti- 

 vation of tropical orchids 

 apparently did not begin 

 until early in the eigh- 

 teenth century. The first 

 edition of Miller's "Gar- 

 dener's Dictionary," in 

 1731, describes twenty 

 native European species 

 under Orchis, but no 

 tropical form is men- 

 tioned. About this time, 

 however, plants began to 

 be introduced into Eng- 

 lish conservatories by 

 missionaries and officers 

 who visited the tropics. 

 In 1731, Bletia verecunda 

 was received from the 

 West Indies. The vanilla was cultivated by Miller in 

 1759, and was at that time fairly well known in Eng- 

 lish conservatories. In 1789, Commodore Gardner sent 

 plants of Epidendrum fragrans from the woods of 

 Jamaica. One of these flowered two years later and was 

 the first orchid figured in Curtis' "Botanical Maga- 

 zine," plate 152 (as E. cochleatum). In Martyn's 

 edition (1807) of Miller's "Gardener's Dictionary," 

 124 orchids, including the vanilla, were listed under 

 Epidendrum. 



The middle part of the nineteenth century is remark- 

 able for the great number of new and rare forms intro- 



2654. Embryos of a Laeliocattleya. 

 a, not infected; b, infected. 



2655. Seedling of Odontoglossum. a, seed; b, same some- 

 what swollen; c, same bursting testa; d, young spherule with 

 root-hairs; e, more advanced stage showing cotyledon and first 

 leaves; /, seedling with root and leaves developed. 



duced, and for the large sums often paid for striking 

 novelties. As early as 1855, a plant of Aerides Schroederi 

 brought something over $430 (G.C. 1855, page 775). 

 In 1875, a plant of Dendrobium Wardianum was sold 

 at Stevens' auction rooms for over $500 (G.C. 1875, 



