THE ORCHID FAMILY. 



183 



perennial plants with fleshy bulb-like roots, and generally 

 found in moist meadows, pastures, the margins and open 

 parts of woods ; some species grow in chalky soils ; the 

 greater number are found in the southern counties, but 

 specimen collectors and hawkers are fast hastening their 

 extinction. Many species have very peculiar flowers, being 

 in the form of insects, as bees, flies, &c. : the Bee Orchis 

 {Ophrys apifera) ; Fly Orchis (0. muscifera) ; Spider Orchis 

 {0. araniferd)\ Lizard Orchis (Orc^^s ^zrcma) ; Man Orchis 

 {Aceras anthropophora). The tropical species also present 

 very singular and curious forms, as the Butterfly Orchid 

 (Oncidium Papili6)\ Night Moth Plant (Phalcenopsis ama- 

 MUs); Dove Plant, "El Spirito Santo," or Holy Ghost 

 Plant, of the Peruvians (Feristeria elata),. and many others 

 too numerous to mention here. (See page 45.) 



Vanilla ( Vanilla plant folia). An epiphytal plant growing 

 like ivy, with thick laurel-like leaves, a native of the West 

 Indies and tropical America. It has insignificant greenish 

 flowers, and produces a pod-like fruit 5 — 10 inches long, and 

 1 inch in circumference, which is well known for its grate- 

 ful aromatic qualities, and its uses in confections, perfumery, 

 and medicine. In commerce, it is, in proportion to bulk, 

 the highest priced vegetable production imported. The 

 greatest importation to this country is from the eastern parts 

 of Mexico. It is now cultivated in Guiana, and other parts 

 of tropical America, as also in Ceylon, India, and other parts 

 of the East. 



Salep. Orchis mascula, 0. Morio, 0. militaris, 0. pyra- 

 midalis, and all the bulbous European species, produce the 

 starchy-mucilaginous substance commonly known as " salep," 

 which is obtained by macerating the bulbs in water. It 

 contains a chemical substance called bassorine, which is 

 said to contain more nutritive matter than any other vege- 

 table product, one ounce per diem being sufficient to sus- 

 tain a man. Large quantities of " salep" are prepared in 

 • Macedonia and Greece, but the finest comes from Turkey. 

 In the Himalaya and Cashmere many species of bulbous- 



