ORCHIDS 



British and otiier Hardy Orchids. 



in small areas about Dorking in flower in June. The stems 

 are about ift. high, and bear from three to six flowers, in which 

 the lip is the most conspicuous part, being o-\-ate, convex, 

 velvety brown-purple, spotted with orange-yellow. 



O. aranifera (Hiids.) (Spider Orchis) has a broad, dull- 

 brown lip, spotted with yellow, and O. muscifera (the Fly 

 Orchis), with a three-lobed, almost flat lip, coloured bright brown- 

 purple, with a blue patch and sometimes a yellow edge, are also 

 British kinds which differ from the Bee Orchis only in the 

 characters here mentioned. 



O. insectifera {Linn.). — A continental plant that Linnfeus 

 took as the type of all the Ophrys. It has a stem Sin. high, the 

 rosette of leaves measuring 5 in. across. There are about six 

 flowers on each spike, and they are lin. across ; the sepals are 

 green, the petals white, and the lip is velvety-purple, with two 

 streaks of grey-blue. 



O. tenthredinifera {Tcnore). — This, the Sawfly Orchis, is a 

 native of the European continent. It is a strong grower, with 

 spikes gin. high, greenish-brown sepals and petals, and a velvety 

 brown and yellow li|). (Fig. 181, for which we are indebted to 

 the Editor of the " Gardeners' Chronicle.") 



The following are all more or le.ss known in English 

 collections, but they are not often grown with success; 

 they are abundant in Italy, France, &c., and are imported 

 in quantity b}' dealers in this class of plants : O. Berto = 

 lonii { Moretti), with brown-purple lip ; O. bombylifera 

 (Willd.)\ O. exaltata {Tcnore) \ O. lutea {Cavi), with 

 green sepals and petals, and a golden-}'ellow lip, maroon- 

 purple in the centre, with an eye-like patch of steel-blue; 

 and O. speculum, in which the sepals and petals are 

 banded with purple, and the lip is peacock-blue, with a 

 golden iris and purple margin. 



ORCHIS. 



Some of the Orchises are very-' pretty in flower, and 

 they are easy to manage in the garden. They require 

 a rich loamy soil, a sheltered situation either in a border 

 or in the rock-garden, plenty of water, and an annual 

 mulching nith rotten manure. The British species here 

 mentioned are abundant in moist meadows in most parts 



