182 



DOMESTIC BOTANY. 



years as ornamental garden plants, and about 100 of the 

 most showy species belonging to the genera Cattleya^ Odonto- 

 glossum, Lycaste, Stanhopea, and others of the Western hemi- 

 sphere, and Aerides, Vanda, Saccolahium, Dendrohium, and 

 Phalcenopsis from the Eastern hemisphere, are well known at 

 horticultural exhibitions. A few of small growth are valued 

 for the beauty of their leaves. Such as several species of 

 Ancectochilus, their colour being of a brownish hue and velvety 

 texture, some being striped with white, while A. setaceus, a 

 native of Ceylon, called King of the Woods," is netted with 

 gold, as is also the rare Stelis calodictyon, a native of the 

 Andean regions of Peru. Hcemaria discolor^ Cypripedium 

 venustum, and allies, have also brown or variously coloured 

 leaves, silvery leaves being represented by Physurus argenteus, 

 a native of Brazil. High prices have been paid for some of 

 the more showy species, even as much as 901. for a single 

 plant, and special collectors have been sent abroad in order 

 to collect, and transmit them to this country. 



The interest taken in the cultivation of exotic orchids is 

 also shown by the number introduced. In 1825 the Kew 

 collection did not exceed 50 species ; in 1854 they had in- 

 creased to above 850, but during that period and for ten 

 years later it was surpassed by the collection of the late 

 Messrs. Loddiges in their long celebrated nursery at Hackney, 

 now a thing of the past. The principal collections are now 

 to be found in France, Belgium, and Germany. The cata- 

 logue of a private collection at Hamburg, published a few 

 years ago, contains the names of above 1350 species. In all 

 such collections many are of mean appearance, and often with 

 small insignificant flowers, but of singular forms, and appre- 

 ciated by their possessors as botanical curiosities. Since the 

 dispersion of the Hackney collection and the fashionable 

 patronage of late years of the cultivation of show flowers, 

 many orchids of botanical curiosity have disappeared from 

 the collections of this country. 



In this country the family is represented by about 40 

 species, which are also common to Europe, consisting of 



