138 THE ORCHID REVIEW. [May, 1909. 
BOTANICAL ORCHIDS. 
A CORRESPONDENT who is much interested in Botanical Orchids would like 
us to devote an article to the subject, and with this we gladly comply, 
though it is a little difficult to know precisely what is intended. The term 
is somewhat elastic, and in its widest significance would include every Orchid 
that finds its way into cultivation, however insignificant. But there are 
many species that are not showy enough to be grown generally for decorative 
purposes, or that are unsuitable for cut flowers, but yet possess very 
attractive qualities—grace of form, quaintness of structure, fragrance, beauty 
of colour or markings, or a combination of these characters—and are indeed 
exquisite little plants when well grown. They are perhaps best comparable 
with alpine plants among hardy flowers. 
They are no monopoly of botanic gardens, as witness the magnificent 
collection at Burford—and others could be mentioned. But they are 
generally grown as supplementary to, not instead of, a general collection, 
and their selection is to a great extent a matter of taste and opportunity. 
The amount of space at command and the nature of the houses have also 
to be taken into consideration. Many, however, take up very little room, 
and are as easily grown as their more showy neighbours, so that anyone 
with a liking for them can soon find plenty of suitable subjects, and also 
discover the kind of treatment necessary. 
These interesting little plants sometimes turn up in the most unexpected 
places, for in passing through an ordinary collection something will 
occasionally be pointed out that was ‘found upon the roots of some 
imported Cattleya” or ‘‘ Dendrobium,” and is promoted to the dignity of a 
small pan or basket of its own, and suspended on some convenient wire—at 
all events until it blooms. 
Many interesting plants are picked up in this way, and among them we 
recall a plant of the exquisite little Eria extinctoria, which was found on an 
imported Dendrobium at Clare Lawn, and many other cases could be 
mentioned. When plants are found in this way it is easy to give them 
suitable treatment from the outset, and generally speaking one has some 
sort of a clue—either the name, the country, or a knowledge of the species 
with which they were imported—otherwise a difficulty might be found in 
knowing how to treat them. 
Owing to the extent of the subject it will be as well to follow some 
definite system of arrangement, and we may commence with a few species 
suitable for the Cool or Odontoglossum house. The majority of these plants 
are natives of tropical America, chiefly of that portion of the Andes that 
extends from Peru to South Mexico, at analtitude of 6,000 or 7,000 up to as 
much as 13,000 feet altitude, where the climate is temperate and almost 
