314 



that's it; 



enrich our flower borders, when 

 the summer flowers have de- 

 parted, and when the autumnal 

 tints impart a sombre aspect to 



5 



8G5 



the vegetable kingdom. The 

 varieties have been obtained from 

 Kamtschatka, China, Barbary, 

 Madeira, Piedmont, Austria, &c. 



The orchis tribes are singularly 

 interesting. The flowers are 

 often remarkable for their gro- 

 tesque configurations, which have 

 been likened to the heads and 



6 



8G6. 



bodies of animals, and from the 

 Strang :j character of their stems, 

 which in some instances are as 

 delicate as those of the grasses, 



and sometimes contracted into 

 clumsy and tortuous figures. 

 They are found inhabiting the 

 mountains and meadows of the 

 cooler parts of the globe, or 

 adhering by their tortuous roots 

 to the branches of the loftiest 

 trees of the tropical forest, to 

 which their blossoms often impart 

 considerable beauty. They are 

 not, however, parasitic, as they 

 derive no support from the juices 

 of the plants on which they grow, 

 but merely adhere to them for 

 support, and vegetate amidst the 

 rich black soil which collects at 

 the foot of trees, growing in a 

 hot and humid climate. 



Orchis is the Greek name of 

 the plants typical of the order. 

 There is a curious fact in con- 

 nexion with some of the species. 

 An orchis being taken out of the 

 ground, is found with two solid 

 masses at the base of the stems, 

 above which proceed the thick 

 fleshy fibres that nourish the 

 plant. One of these bulbs or 

 tubes is destined to be the suc- 

 cessor of the other, and is plump 

 and vigorous, while the other is 

 wrinkled and decayed. From 

 this withered one has proceeded 

 the existing stem, and the plump 

 one is an offset, from the centre 

 of which the stem of the suc- 

 ceeding year is destined to pro- 

 ceed. By this process the actual 

 situation of the plant is changed 

 about half an inch every year ; 

 and as the offset is always pro- 

 duced from the side opposite to 

 the withered bulb, the plant 

 travels always in one direction 

 at that rate, and will in a dozen 

 years have moved six inches 



