ORCHrACK.«. 619 



ORDER CCXXXV.— ORCHIACE^. (ORCHIDACE.E, Lindl. Nat. 

 Syst. p. 336.) 



THE ORCHIS TRIBE. 



Herbs, found in almost all parts of the world, except upon the verge of 

 the frozen zone, and in climates remarkable for dryness. In Europe, Asia, 



N. America, and New Holland they are seen growing every where, in 



groves, in marshes, and in meadows ; in the drier parts of Africa they are 

 either rare or unknown ; at the C. G. H. they abound in similar situations 

 as in Europe ; but in the hot damp parts of the W. and E. Indies, in Ma- 

 dagascar, and the neighbouring islands, in the damp and humid forests of 

 Brazil, in the warm mild parts of central America, and W. Mexico ! in the 

 damp tropical parts of India, (in Assam, on the Khassya Mountains, on 

 the lower mountains of Nepal, &c.,) these Orchideous plants flourish in the 

 greatest variety, and profusion, no longer seeking their nutriment from 

 the soil, but clinging to the trunks and limbs of trees, to stones, and bare 

 rocks, where they vegetate among ferns and other shade-loving plants, in 

 countless thousands. The number of species of this tribe is unknown, but 

 probably is not less than 1860 ?" {Lindl.) 



Although the last fascicle of Lindl's. genera and species of Orchideous 

 plants has not come to hand, it is, perhaps, not too much to say, that the 

 number of hitherto described Indian species of this order amounts to 700, 

 which are thus distributed among the following divisions ; Malaxiece, 390 ; 

 Epidendiea, 153 ; Vandece, 487 ; Opht/dea, i49 ; Arethusece, 218; Neot- 

 ti'ecE, 270 ; and Cypripediece, 23. 



" It often happens, that those productions of nature which charm the eye 

 with their beauty, and delight the senses with their perfume, have the least 

 relation to the wants of mankind, while the most powerful virtues or most 

 deadly poisons are hidden beneath a mean and insignificant exterior. Thus 

 the Orchidacese beyond their beauty, can scarcely be said to be of known 

 utility, with a few exceptions. The nutritive substance called Salep, has 

 been said to be prepared from the subterraneous succulent roots of Orchis 

 mascula and others ; but it is now known from the enquiries of Royle, to 

 be the produce of the tubers of a species of Eulophia ; it consists almost 

 entirely of a chemical principle called Bassorin, {Turner, 699.) The root of 

 Bletia verecunda is said to be stomachic, (Lunati). Some of the S. American 

 species, suca as the Cataseturas, Cyrtopodiums, &c. contain a viscid juice, 

 which being inspissated by boiling, becomes a kind of vegetable glue used 

 for economical purposes in Brazil." {Lindl.) 

 A. MALAxiii.«, (Malaxidese, Lindl. gen. and spec, orch, pi. p. 3 ; — Endl. 



gen. pi. p. 186.) 

 Pleurotiiallis, R. Br. {Lindl. o. c. p. 6.) 



1. racemijiora, Lindl. (o. c. p. 6. — Epidendrum racemiflorum, Swz. pr. 

 125. — Dendrobium racemiflorum, iSwz, ,• Jl. occid. 1543 ; — Willd. No. 



