C80 ORDER 138. ORCHIDACEuE. 



ORDER CXXXVII. BURMANNIACE^E. 



Small annual herbs with slender, scaly or naked stems and scale-like, tufted leaves. 

 Flowers perfect, with a tubular, 6-toothed perianth adherent to the ovary. Stamens 

 3, opposite the smaller teeth (petals), introrse, or 6 and extrorse. Capsule 1 or 3- 

 celled, seeds numerous, minute, loose in a membranous testa. 



Genera 7, xpecies 30, in wet, grassy places in the warm parts of Asia, Africa and* America. 

 They are said to be bitter and astringent. 



1. APTE^RIA, Nutt. (Gr. a, privative, nrepov, a wing.) Perianth 

 bell-tubular, tube longer than the slender teeth, raarescent ; teeth alter- 

 nately narrower ; capsule globular, wingless, 1 -celled, valves opening 

 first at base ; placentae parietal ; seeds innumerable, oblong, very min- 

 ute. CD Herbs apparently leafless. 



A. setacea Nutt. Erect, very slender, with remote, subulate scales, and divid- 

 ing above into 2 racemes ; fls. distant, pedicellate. Moist, shady woods, Fla. 

 and La. (Hale). St. 4 to 6f high. Raceme often simple. Coralla 3 to 4" long, 

 purplish. 



2. BURMAN'NIA, L. (Dedicated to one Burmann, a German bota- 

 nist.) Perianth tube scarcely produced above the ovary, often 3-winged 

 below, limb with 3 inner teeth much shorter ; capsule prismatic, often 

 3-winged, cells 3, with a thick placenta in the axis ; seeds numerous. 

 CD Leafless. 



1 B. biflora L. St. capillary, simple, with scarcely perceptible bracts, and 1 or 2, 

 rarely more, small light blue flowers at top, the angles of the tube conspicuously 

 winged. Grassy swamps in the lower districts, Va. to Fla. and La. St. 2 to 3' 

 high. Fls. 2 to 3" long. Oct., Nov. 



2 B. capitata L. St. setaceous, furnished with a few subulate bracts, simple, 

 erect, bearing at top a dense duster of white fls. ; ovary and fruit scarcely winged. 

 Upper districts of S. Car. and Ga. (Bachman), less common and with smaller fls. 

 than in the last. St. 6 to 8' high, Sept. 



ORDER CXXXVIII. ORCHID ACE^E. ORCHIDS. 



Herbs perennial, with fleshy roots, simple, entire, parallel veined leaves. Flowers 

 very irregular, with an adherent, ringent perianth of 6 parts. Sepals 3, usually 

 colored, odd ono uppermost by the twisting of the ovary. Petals 3, usually colored, 

 odd one lowest by the twisting of the ovary. Lip (labellum, the odd petal) diverse 

 in form, often lobed, frequently spurred at base. Stamens 3, gynandrous (consoli- 

 dated with the style), 2 of them or more, rarely 1 of them, abortive or obsolete, the 

 pollen powdery, or coherent in waxy masses. Ovary inferior, 1 -celled, with 3 pari- 

 etal placentae and innumerable ovules. Fruit capsular, 3-valved. Seeds numerous 

 and very minute. Illust in Figs. 29, 37, b, 57, 85, 200, 327, 366. 



Genera 394, species 3000? They are among the most interesting and curious plants, almost al- 

 ways remarkable for the grotesque form of their tortuous roots and stems, and the fragrance, 

 brilliancy and odd structure of the flowers. 



The Orchids are natives of nearly every part of the world. In the tropics multitudes of 

 thorn are epiphytes, growing on living trees or decaying timber. 



This order is remarkable for those qualities only which please the eye. They not orly excel 

 in beauty and delicacy, but often closely imitate objects of the animal kingdom, as bees, flies, 

 spiders, doves, swans, pelicans, &c,, especially those of the tropical regions. Many of its species 

 are cultivated for ornament, but few of them possess either active or useful properties. Tho 

 s'.itep of commerce is a nutritive, mucilaginous substance afforded by the roots of some Asiatic 

 Orchis. The aromatic vanilla, used to flower chocolate, &c., is the fruit of the West Indian 

 Vanilla claviculata. 



