ORCHIS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



ORIGANUM. 717 



rounded joints thickly set with white 

 spines and little yellow flowers. Its 

 variety caespitosa is more compact, with 

 larger yellow flowers shading to brown 

 in the centre, and bright red stamens. 

 Opuntia niesacantha is a little tuft of 

 spreading, spiny growths, with bright 

 yellow flowers in summer. Opuntia 

 Greenii bears beautiful pale lemon-yellow 

 flowers. Opuntias Rhodantha and xan- 

 thostemma are, perhaps, the finest of all. 

 The first exists under five distinct forms : 

 O. Rhodantha, with large rosy-lilac 

 flowers of rich silky texture, the stamens 

 bright red, and the style green ; var. bre- 

 I'ispina, in which the joints are large and 

 of a dark grey-green, covered with short 

 spines and bearing very large flowers 

 of intense carmine colour ; flavispina, 

 with smaller, pale green joints and with 

 larger spines, which in their early stages 

 are yellow with green tips, the flowers 

 large and rose-coloured ; pisciformis, so 

 called from the fish-like joints studded 

 with flowers of pale pink with bright red 

 stamens ; and SchutnanniancE, with the 

 largest flowers two inches or more across 

 and bright crimson, upon erect growths 

 of a pretty blue-green colour. Opuntia 

 xanthosteniuia bears flowers of carmine- 

 purple which with the golden stamens are 

 striking in effect ; it also exists in several 

 varieties, as follows : elegans, with large 

 rosy glossy flowers glistening when newly 

 expanded ; fulgens, with flowers of glow- 

 ing carmine ; gracilis, with smaller pale 

 pink flowers ; orbicularis, with rounded 

 growths and many pale >pink flowers of 2 

 to 3 inches across ; and rosea, with numer- 

 ous blush-pink blossoms. Other kinds_ 

 such as the Opuntias arenaria, arkansana, 

 cymochila, hybrida, macrorhiza, and phcea- 

 cantha, have now lived in the open air 

 for several seasons ; all the plants we 

 have named, with others, thrive in the 

 open air with complete success. To do 

 well they must have a sunny spot, as open 

 to the winds as their own mountain tops, 

 but dry, well drained, and with a suffi- 

 cient layer of limestone soil. H. C. 



ORCHIS. TheseterrestrialOrchidsare 

 beautiful, and well worth cultivation among 

 hardy flowers. Those who do not want a 

 full collection will find the species men- 

 tioned below easily grown if placed under 

 good conditions at the outset ; some of our 

 native Orchids are worth a place, but few 

 succeed with them, chiefly because the 

 plants are transplanted at the wrong 

 season. The usual plan is to transplant 

 just when the flowers are opening, but at 

 this period of growth the plant is forming 

 a tuber for the following year, and, if this 



is in any way injured, it dies. If, instead 

 of this way, the plants are marked when in 

 flower and allowed to remain until August 

 or September, when the tubers are matured, 

 the risk of transplanting is lessened, pro- 

 vided the plant be taken up with a deep 

 sod. The ground where the plants grow 

 may be surfaced with such plants as the 

 Balearic Sandwort, Lawn Pearlwort, and 

 the mossy Saxifrages. The situation for 

 Orchids should be an open one, and the 

 soil a deep, fibry loam in a drained border. 

 The following are the kinds most worthy 

 of culture : 



0. foliosa. A handsome Orchid, one of 

 the finest of the hardy kinds, i to 2 ft. or 

 more in height, with long spikes of rosy- 

 purple blossoms in May, lasting long in 

 bloom. It delights in moist nooks at the 

 base of the rock-garden, or in the bog- 

 garden in deep light soil. Madeira. 



0. latifolia (Marsh Orchis). A fine 

 native kind, i to i^ ft. high, with long 

 spikes of purple flowers in early summer. 

 It thrives in damp boggy soil, in peat or 

 leaf-mould. There are several beautiful 

 varieties, the best being praecox and ses- 

 quipedalis ; the last being one of the 

 finest of hardy Orchids, about i ft. high, 

 and a third of the stem is covered with 

 purplish-violet flowers. 



0. laxiflora is a pretty species, i ft. to 

 1 8 in. high, with loose spikes of rich 

 purplish-red flowers, opening in May and 

 June, and thriving in a moist spot in 

 the rock-garden. Guernsey and Jersey. 

 Division. 



0. maculata (Hand Orchis). One of 

 the handsomest of British Orchids, finest 

 in rich soil, and if well grown in moist and 

 rather stiff garden-loam its beauty will 

 surprise even those who know it well in 

 a wild state. The variety superba is a 

 fine plant, and should be secured. 



Other beautiful kinds, but more or less 

 difficult to establish in gardens, are O. 

 papilionacea, purpurea, militaris, mascula, 

 pyramidalis, spectabilis, tephrosanthos, 

 and Robertiana. 



OREOCOME CANDOLLEL- An effec- 

 tive plant of the Fennel order for the mar- 

 gins of shrubberies, or groupsof fine-leaved 

 hardy plants. It grows 5 feet in height, 

 with large leaves finely divided, of a fresh 

 green colour, and the flowers, which rise 

 well above the foliage, are in umbels, and 

 white. It grows well in any ordinary garden 

 soil, and is quite hardy. Himalayas. 



ORIGANUM (Dittany, Hop Plant). 

 O. Dictamnus (Dittany of Crete) is a 

 pretty plant, somewhat tender, and best 

 grown under glass rather than in the open 

 air, though during mild winters it may 



