64 



THE PLOTTER GARDEN. 



Orchis. — Many beautiful and curious species of Orchis, 

 and the closely related genus Ophrys. are native plants, 

 though now rare. The Bee Ophrys (formerly Orchis), 

 the Spider Ophrys, and the Ely Ophrys, whose flowers 

 resemble those respective insects, were found on the 

 skirts of our woods and pastures. Orchis pyramidalis 

 and fusca, are attractive objects in their native forests; 

 but the species are very numerous. To cultivate them, 

 take them up when in flower, with a large ball of earth 

 surrounding the roots, and plant them in exactly the 

 same soil, aspect, and conditions as they enjoyed when 

 wild, whether in wet peat-mould, or iu dry chalky loam. 

 These conditions are not always easy to combine. Many 

 species require shade and air at the same time ; others 

 are only at home in a marsh or a bog. They may be grown 



in pots, but The tuberous root of most terrestrial 



orehidaceae consists of two lobes, one of which shrivels 

 every year, a new one being formed at the side of the 

 other lobe. Thus the plant travels slowly, but surely, 

 and is therefore not at its ease in a hyacinth-pot, as far as 

 shiftiug its ground is concerned. The less fastidious 

 species will do tolerably well in a border of heath-mould 

 at the foot of a north-east wall, where they are best left 

 to themselves year after year. Not easy to propagate ; 

 but the seeds may be sown as soon as ripe. 



Oxalis — Wood Sorrel. — An extensive genus, whose 

 type is that pretty little native of our woods, the Oxalis 

 acetosella, whose sour juices furnish a considerable quan- 

 tity of oxalic acid, to which in fact it gives the name. 

 This same acid is the basis of a salt that is much employed 

 in the arts and in domestic economy ; namely, oxalate of 

 potash, or Salts of Sorrel. Certain species have been 

 highly vaunted for the amount of nutriment stored in 

 their tubers : for which see " The Kitchen Garden. " The 

 leaves of the Oxalises are ordinarily composed of three 

 leaflets, which are sensitive to light and moisture, like 

 those of the Trefoils. The flowers are always neat and 

 often brightly coloured, but unfortunately the most beau- 

 tiful must be treated as greenhouse plants, in pots, in 



