188 



OPHIOPOGON ORCHIS. 



tinct in appearance from anything 

 else in cultivation ; 6 to 8 in. high. 

 Flowers, in spring and early summer ; 

 fine yellow, arranged in clustering 

 cymes ; corolla wide above, twice 

 as long as the calyx. Leaves, linear- 

 lance-shaped, acute, hispid, rolled 



back at the edges. Caucasus. 



Borders and the rock-garden, in warm 

 positions and in well -drained sandy 

 loam. Seed and cuttings. 



Ophiopogon spicatus (Spliced Snakes 

 Beard). A fibrous-rooted herbaceous 

 perennial, about 1^ ft. high. Flowers, 

 late in summer and in autumn ; very 

 numerous, small, lilac ; in spikes from 

 2 to 5 in. long, with a tendency to 

 branch at the end . Leaves, flat, thin, 

 and furrowed underneath, about 2 ft. 



long, by 4 in. broad. China. Borders 



or margins of shrubberies, in sandy 

 loam. Scarcely ornamental. Division. 



Ophrys apifera (Bee Orchis). An 

 interesting native Orchid, the bloom 

 of which resembles the body of a bee ; 

 6 in. to 1 ft. or more high, flowers, 

 in early summer ; few, large, rather 

 distant; sepals whitish, tinged with 

 purple; lip velvety-brown with yel- 

 low markings, convex, bearing some re- 

 semblance to a bee. Leaves, few, glau- 

 cous near the ground. Native of various 

 parts of England and Ireland, on cal- 

 careous soils. This interesting 



plant may be grown without difficulty 

 in the rock-garden or border, or in a 

 small bed devoted to Orchids in cal- 

 careous well-drained soil. The only 

 way we can add to the stock in our 

 gardens is by gathering the plant in 

 a wild state, taking up the roots very 

 carefully. 



Ophrys muscifera (Fly Orchis}. 

 Smaller than the Bee Orchis, 1 ft. 

 high. Flowers, in early summer ; 

 petals very narrow, purple;- sepals 

 green ; lip brownish- purple, with a 

 somewhat square, bluish, central spot. 

 Leaves, elliptical, 2 to 5 in. long; 



fewer and narrower at the base than 

 those of any other species. Native of 

 damp calcareous thickets and pastures 



in England and Ireland. Easily 



grown with the treatment advised for 

 the preceding kind. 



Opuntia Rafinesquiana (Hardy 0.) 

 A dwarf spreading Cactus, forming 

 clusters of thick, ovate, very green 

 stems, each 3 or 4 in. long, and about 

 3 in. broad, studded with small tufts 

 of minute, sharp-pointed, reddish, 

 hair-like spines. Flowers, in summer ; 

 bright sulphur -yellow. Fruit said to 

 be edible "like a gooseberry." North 



America. This has been proved 



hardy in England. Its most appropri- 

 ate positions are on dry banks or 

 borders, rough rock-work, old walls, 

 or ruins. Division and cuttings. 



Orchis foliosa (Leafy 0.) A 

 showy handsome Orchid, from 1 

 to 2^ ft. high. Flowers, in May ; 

 numerous, purple, in an ovate or ob- 

 long-ovate spike, about 9 in. long and 

 3 in. broad ; sepals erect, ovate, ob- 

 tuse, palish-purple ; petals similar in 

 form, but narrower and smaller, nearly 

 erect, dark purple ; lip pendent, 

 very broad, roundly- wedge- shaped, 

 3-lobed (middle lobe smallest), purple, 

 with darker blotches of same colour ; 

 spur much shorter than the lip ; bracts 

 leafy, generally shorter than the flow- 

 ers. Leaves, unspotted, oblong, lower 

 ones blunt. Madeira, on rocky 

 banks. The rock-garden, in shel- 

 tered nooks in deep, light soil, or 

 grown in pots, in which way it haa 

 been frequently shown in London. 



Orchis latifolia (Marsh 0.} A very 

 ornamental native kind ; 1 to 1 ft. 

 high. Flowers, in summer ; sepals dull 

 purplish-crimson; lip of the same 

 colour, paler at the base, and spotted 

 and lined purple; the middle lobe 

 usually not longer than the lateral 

 ones. Leaves, oblong- elliptical, broad- 

 est near the middle, usually spotted 



