Orchidacece. 46 7 



or reddish flowers towards the end of Summer. The Bee Orchis, 

 ftphrya apifera; Fly Orchis, 0. muscifera\ and the Spider 

 Orchis, 0. aranifera, are so named from the resemblance their 

 flowers bear to those insects. The Helleborines, Cephaldnthera, 

 have leafy stems and white or rosy flowers. (7. grandiflora, 

 with large white flowers, is a very conspicuous plant in copses 

 on a chalky soil. A very common species is the Twayblade, 

 Listera ovata, a plant about 18 inches high, with two opposite 

 oval ribbed leaves, from between which springs a long slender 

 raceme of yellowish-green flowers. None of these plants are 

 of easy culture, and perhaps the terrestrial less so than the 

 epiphytes, of which there are no hardy species. But still some 

 careful gardeners contrive to grow some of them successfully, 

 such as the Lady's Slipper, Cypripedium Calceolus (fig. 226), 

 a rare indigenous plant with reddish-brown and yellow flowers, 

 found in two or three localities only in the North of England. 

 There are several more showy North American species ; as 

 C. guttatum, purplish-violet spotted and edged with white ; 

 0. cdndidum, white ; C. spectdbile, white tinged with purple, 

 etc. 



RDER VII. MUSACE^E. 



The species of Banana, Musa, are employed in the open air 

 during Summer in sheltered localities for the sake of their 

 broad effective foliage. They are'stemless or caulescent herbs 

 with large simple sheathing leaves often several feet long and 

 spathaceous flowers which are not produced without the aid of 

 artificial heat. M. Sinensis, M. coccinea and M. Ensete, etc. 

 are the species in general cultivation. But these are so rarely 

 seen that detailed descriptions would be of little service. 



ORDER VIII. MARANTACE^l. 



This is another order of almost exclusively sub-tropical plants 

 recently come into vogue for Summer bedding, which on account 

 of their smaller stature, annual stems, and tuberous roots, are 

 better suited for that purpose than many other tender plants. 

 The structure of the flowers is somewhat singular. Perianth 

 superior, composed of 6 segments in two series, the 3 outer 

 forming a 3-lobed calyx, and the 3 inner a tubular irregular 



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