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ORCHIDS 501 
render the soil fairly open. It is necessary that these receptacles should 
be efficiently drained, as the plants are impatient of stagnant moisture. 
They are raised from seeds germinated in the stove; but occasionally 
suckers are thrown up round the base of the old plants, and these may 
be removed and potted separately, affording vigorous young plants. 
There is no very great difference in the habit and appearance of the 
species, and either of them will be found a distinct addition to the stove, 
and to the conservatory when removed thither in summer. C. revoluta 
is sufficiently hardy to be turned out about May, and the pot or tub sunk 
in the border in a sheltered, sunny position. The stems of all Cycads will 
strike root readily, so that plants that have grown too tall may be 
lowered by cutting off their heads at the desired height, and inserting — 
them in sandy soil in a stove. 
ORCHIDS 
Natural Order ORCHIDE 
A LARGE Natural Order, compr ising three hundred and thirty-four genera 
and about five thousand species of herbs, with roots in bunches from the 
base or tuberous. Many of the tropical species grow upon the trunks of 
trees, and are hence called epiphytes. They have true stems (Vanda), or 
modified stems (Dendrobium), or pseudo-bulbs (Odontoglossum), or 
~ rhizomes (Piazus), or the leaves are sessile on a tuft of fleshy roots or 
tubers (Cypripedium, Orchis). The flowers are either solitary or clustered 
in spikes, racemes, or panicles ; and of singular shapes and structure. The 
perianth consists of six irregular, coloured segments, of which the three 
outer are sepals, nearly alike, as also are the two lateral members of the 
inner series (petals), but the central one of this series is dissimilar, usually 
larger, and often ends in a spur. By the twisting of the ovary, the flower 
is turned upside down, and this large central petal, which should be at the 
upper side of the flower, becomes a lower lip (labellum). The stamens and 
the style are welded into an unsymmetrical mass, the column. The upper 
part of this column supports the single anther (in the genus Cypripedium 
there are two anthers), which is two-celled. The ovary is usually long, 
and one-celled, the style often ending in a thickened process called the 
rostellum or beak, below and in front of the anther or between its cells, 
and the stigma is a sticky surface below the rostellum. The pollen- 
grains are each attached by an elastic thread to a stalk (cwudicle) which 
ends in a basal gland. In this way two, four, or eight pear-shaped 
IV.—-2 
