420 



Remarh on the Roots of 



84 



Orchldeae, which, I have no doubt, will be admired in England. 

 I send you a few remarks on the roots of a few of the genera 

 of Australian Orchideae, which, if you can spare a corner for in 

 the Gardener^ Magazine, may, perhaps, assist in their successful 

 Cultivation. Many of our Orchideje, as the species No. 1. 

 (shown in Jig. S'i.) *, agree in the character of their roots with 

 the English O'rchis morio, and on these it is not necessary 

 to remark. The two species marked No. 2. and *2. (j%. 84.) 

 belong to two genera, the structure of which is very curious ; 

 the bulb being renewed every year, in the centre of several 

 layers of bast-mat-like substance, one of which layers is added 

 every year by the decay of the old bulb. When the young 

 bulb is dissected at the time the plant is in flower, the layer of 

 fibrous substance, which afterwards becomes the covering, is 

 easily perceptible : it terminates in a point, which the following 

 season becomes a root, and another root is produced from the 

 bottom of next year's flower-stalk. In planting these roots, the 

 fibrous substance should not be removed, or the plant will not 

 thrive. The layers can easily be traced back for ten or twelve 



* The engravings are one fourth of the size of the dried specimens, which 

 arrived in very bad condition. 



