Orchids 



(H3) 



Order, Natural 



Dendi obiums, Calanthes, Cattleyas, Lielias, Lselio- 

 Cattleyas, JIasdevallias, Phaises, Phalsenopses, and 

 C\ pripediums. 



ORCHIDS. 



In one of the great natural divisions of the 

 vegetable kingdom, the Monocotyledons, no order 

 is more interesting than Orchidaceic. It does 

 not possess great, economic value such as attaches 

 to the Cereals (Graminea;) or the Palms (Palma?) ; 

 indeed, excepting Vanilla and some Orchises, the 

 order contributes scarcely anything to foods, fibres, 

 or drugs. But by the beauty, grace, wonderful 

 colouring, and marvellous form or quaint habit of 

 its many members it appeals to almost every horti- 

 culturist, and is represented in nearly every plant 

 collection in the land. 



Orchids are among the latest additions to the 

 world's plants, standing very high in the scale of evo- 

 lution. They are the aristocrats of the plant world. 

 The great essentials in which Orchids differ from 

 other plants in the same division are found in the 

 combination of stamens and pistil into one body, 

 the cokimn ; the suppression of all but one anther, 

 excepting in the large tribe of Cypripediese, in 

 which there are two; the peculiar structure of the 

 pollen, which is in masses rather than in free 

 grains ; the irregularity of the flowers ; and the 

 remarkable form and development of the third 

 inner segment, known as the lip or labellum. 



The sepals may be joined at the edges, as are 

 the two lower ones in Cypripedium, or they may 

 all three be coherent as in Masdevallia. The lip 

 mav be by far the largest segment, as in mostOnci- 

 diurns ; exquisitely fringed, as in Lailiadigbyanaand 

 Dendrobium brymerianum ; prominently spurred, 

 as in Angraecum sequipedale ; pouched, as in 

 Cypripedium ; or diminutive, as in some Masdeval- 

 lias. In mode of inflorescence Orchids show much 

 diversity ; the flowers may be either solitary or in 

 spikes, racemes, or panicles, and these may be erect, 

 drooping, arching, or pendent. 



Orchids differ as widely in habit as in their 

 flowers and inflorescence. Some, like Grammato- 

 phyllum speciosum or Bidbophyllum Beecarii, 

 make huge plants many feet high, while on the 

 other hand they may be so minute as in Eria 

 extinctoria as to be scarcely discernible amid 

 the moss in which they grow. Some have a creep- 

 ing growth, as the Coelogynes ; some are climbers, 

 as the Vanilla ; some are erect and stiff, as in most 

 Dendrobiums and Grammatophyllums ; while others 

 grow head downwards, as Cattleya citrina and 

 Scuticaria Steelii. They may be found growing 

 on limestone rocks, where, at high tide, the 

 spray must often reach them ; they nestle amid 

 the moss in a tropical jungle, and may be found 

 among other herbage on an English down ; they 

 may be found on branches of trees in the hottest 

 and moistest parts of the globe, and also high up 

 the mountains of the tropics, close to the snow 

 line. Orchids are as widely dispersed as they 

 arc variable, though they are most numerous in 

 tropical countries, and are chiefly epiphytal (on 

 trees). 



For botanical purposes, the natural order has 

 been divided into five large tribes, and these, with 

 their principal genera, are (1) EPIDKNDRE^E 

 Cattleya, Calanthe, Dendrobium, Epidendrum, 



OrchidaMha (see Lomia). 

 Orchidium (sen Calypso), 

 Orchidocarpum (sec Asimina) 



and Lselia ; (2) VANDE^E Aerides, Odontoglossum, 

 Oncidium, Phalrcnopsis, and Vanda ; (3) NEOT- 

 TIE^B Ancectochilus, Sobralia, and Vanilla ; (4) 

 OPHRYDE^E Aceras, Disa, Ophrys, and Orchis ; 

 (5) CYPRIPEDIE.S: Cypripedium, Selenipedium, 

 Neuwiedia, and Apostasia. 



According to Willis's " Flowering Plants and 

 Ferns," there are 400 genera and about 5,000 species 

 of Orchids known to science, but probably not more 

 than 2,000 species are, or have been, in cultivation. 

 The national collection at Kew contains 203 genera 

 and about 1,800 species, and some idea of the 

 increasing interest taken in Orchids of late is 

 shown by the fact that the Kew collection con- 

 tained only 638 species in 1864. Even allowing 

 that in some other public and private collections 

 there are species not represented now at Kew, the 

 limit of 2,000 cultivated species does not seem too 

 severe. 



For particulars of culture and selections, see the 

 various genera. 



ORCHIS. 



Beautiful or curious terrestrial Orchids (ord. 

 Orchidacese), most of which are hardy in this 

 climate, but a few are rather tender in the open. 

 They like a rich, light soil, and those which grow 

 naturally on calcareous soils should have chalk 

 or lime added. They are best left alone as a rule, 

 although the fine variety of maculata is improved 

 by occasional removal to fresh soil. Propagation 

 is by division in autumn, the best time to trans- 

 plaLt also. 



Principal Species and Varieties : 

 foliosa, 2J', My., pur. ; spikes, pur., spotted 



very handsome and hily. blk. 



latifolia, 1', Je., pur., red. maculata, l',Je., pur., wh. 



Marsh Orchis. superba, My., Je., 



alba, wh. mauve, very fine. 



(;l;isnevin var., tall purpurea, 1' to 2', My., 

 pur. , ro. 



Other Species : 

 hircina, U', sum., gm., pallens, 9", My., pale yel. 



wh. Lizard Orchis. (*.'/ sulphured), 



laxiflora, 1' to 2', sum., papilionacea, 13', Ap., 



pur. pur. (WH. rubra). But- 



longibracteata, My., pur. terfly Orchis, 



longicornu, 1J', My., pur. pyramidalis, 1', sum., ro., 

 longicruris, My., pur. pur. 



(sy. undulatifolia). alba, wh. 



ma-scula, 1', spr., pur. samljucina, 9", Ap., yel. 



militaris, 14', spr., pur. spectabilis, 6", My., pur., 



Soldier or Military Or- wh. 



chis. tridentata, 9", My., pale 



Mono, 6" to 9", sum., pur. 



pur. Green-winged ustulata, 6" to 9", spr., 



Meadow Orchis. dark pur. 



ORDER, NATURAL. 



A group or family of plants next in importance 

 to a class, and above a genus or tribe. Each order 

 or family consists of a number of more or less 

 closely related genera, and the orders again are 

 grouped according to affinity under the superior 



Orchis, See (gee Ophrys apifeni). 



Orchis, Fly (see Ophrys mincifera). 



Orchis, Humble-Bee (see Ophrys bon/bil I/era). 



Orchis, Lizard (see Orchis liircinn). 



Orchis, Marsh (see Orchis latifolia). 



Orchis, Military (si-e Orchis militaris'). 



Orchis, Spider (see Ophrys aranif era}. 



Ordeal liean nf Old Calabar (sre Physostiyma). 



Ordeal Tree (Cerbera Tanyhin). 



