Introductory 



if you cannot couch your reply in half 

 a dozen words of picturesque and unmis- 

 takable description. The term orchid 

 is dear to their hearts. Whenever they 

 discover a rare and striking flower they 

 like to grace it with the title, and are 

 sure to bear you a grudge for depriving 

 them of the pleasurable power of confer- 

 ring this mark of floral knighthood at 

 will. Last year a friend of mine hap- 

 pened for the first time upon the lovely 

 fringed polygala. Her delight in its but- 

 terfly beauty was unbounded. Having 

 learned its name and studied its odd 

 form she turned appealingly to me : 

 " Could you ever call it an orchid ? " she 

 asked ; and I was unpleasantly conscious 

 of my apparent churlishness in refusing to 

 ennoble, even temporarily, so exquisite a 

 creation. 



And perhaps it may be explained as 

 well here as elsewhere that to the botanist 

 the chief charm of the orchid lies in its 

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