54 



GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE^. 



Tlip o-ronp with terminal inflorescence is a still more extensive one, 

 for it includes all the terrestrial kinds, of -which there are several lar^e 

 genera spread over an immense geographical area, as Habenaria and 

 Cypripedium (including Selenipedium). Among the epiphytal orchids 

 included in this group, Cattleya, Laelia, Schomburgkia, Sophronitis, 

 Diacrinm, E])idendrum, Coelogyne, are the most important from a 

 horticultural standpoint, and of subterrestrial genera, Masdevallia, 

 Restrepia, Cryptophoranthus, Sobralia, Thunia, etc. 



Rhizome. — AH the epiphytal species in Ijoth groups of sympodial 

 orchids are provided witli a rhizonu- from which are produced the 



Epideiiilrum xanthlmim. Sympodial orehiil with terminal inflorescence. 



stems, the pseudo-bulbs and the roots. The extent of the development 

 of the rhizome greatly influences the habit of the plant ; in a large 

 number of genera, Odontogiossum, Dendrobium, Masdevallia, etc., the 

 rhizome is for the most part very short, and the plants consequently 

 liave a tufted habit ; in Cattleya, Laelia, the Aulizeum Epidendra, and 

 some others, it is very strong and of ligneous texture, varying in 

 thickness from that of a goose-quill to that of a man's little finger ; 

 in many Bulbophyllums, Cirrhopetalums, some of the Rodriguezias, 

 Coelogynes, and others, the rhizome is greatly elongated and the 



