ORDER. 



200 



ornitho'galum. 



room. "When Orchideous plants 

 arrive from abroad, Mr. Beaton first 

 throws them into water ; and after 

 they have been thoroughly washed, 

 he puts them into a heap, covered 

 with a damp mat, where they remain 

 for several days, after which he plants 

 them in baskets, or ties them on 

 moss supported by a forked stick, as 

 above described. 



Or'chis. — Orchidacece. — Most of 

 the species of the genus Orchis are 

 natives of Europe, and a great num- 

 ber of them are found wild in Britain. 

 With respect to culture, they may be 

 divided into two classes ; those which 

 grownaturally in peat or heath mould, 

 such as O. maculata, O. morio, O. 

 mascula, &c. ; and those which 

 grow in dry chalky soils, such as 

 O. simia, O. militaris, O. fusca, 

 O. tephrosdnthos, and O. ustulata. 

 In general little can be done in the 

 way of propagating Orchises, except- 

 ing by seed ; but they may be taken 

 up in their native localities when in 

 flower, with a ball of earth about 

 three inches square to each, and being 

 planted in suitable soil in an open 

 situation in the garden, they will live 

 and flower for several years. Seeds, 

 if collected when ripe, and sown im- 

 mediately, will come up freely ; and 

 if the soil and situation be suitable, 

 they will flower freely the second or 

 the third year. The same observations 

 will apply to Ophrys, Herminium, 

 A'ceras, Goodyera, Platanthera, 

 Gymnadtnia, and several other 

 genera formerly included in the genus 

 Orchis. Most of the British Or- 

 chises grow well in pots, and they 

 may be forced as easily as the com- 

 mon Hyacinth. The kinds of Orchis 

 which bear flowers resembling insects, 

 are now mostly included in the genus 

 Ophrys. 



Order. The necessity of order 

 is strongly evinced in a flower-garden, 

 as the plants in it lose half their 



beauty unless they are placed ac- 

 cording to some regular plan, or order 

 of arrangement : thus they may be 

 either in masses of one colour, or of 

 one kind ; or they may be arranged 

 according to size, or according to 

 some botanical system, at pleasure. 

 But whatever mode of arrangement 

 may be adopted, it will be found that 

 not only the interest excited by the 

 garden, but its beauty will be greatly 

 increased by some regular order being' 

 followed throughout. 



In a botanical point of view the 

 word Order signifies a number of 

 genera which coincide in several im- 

 portant particulars. As for example, 

 according to the natural system, the 

 order Cruciferse includes all the 

 plants that have their flowers like a 

 Greek cross ; and according to the Lin- 

 nean system, the order Trigynia in- 

 cludes all the plants belonging to any 

 particular class, the flowers of which 

 have three styles, &c. 



Origa v num. — Labiates. — Marjo- 

 ram. O. vulgare, the common Marjo- 

 ram, is plentiful on chalky soils in 

 various parts of England ; and it may 

 be planted in patches in gardens or 

 shrubberies where bees are kept, for 

 the fragrance of the flowers, and the 

 delight which the bees appear to have 

 in them. The Sweet Marjoram, O. 

 ?najorana, a native of Portugal, is 

 cultivated in England as a pot-herb ; 

 and for the Hop Marjoram, or Dit- 

 tany of Crete, O. Dictamnus. See 

 Dittany. 



Ornitho'galum. — Asphodeleae. 

 The Star of Bethelem. Bulbous 

 plants with white star-like flowers, 

 some of which are frequently kept in 

 the greenhouse, but all of which may 

 be grown in the open ground, if the 

 bulbs are planted in a tolerably dry 

 soil, four or six inches deep. Some 

 of the handsomest kinds are O. 

 pyramiddle, a native of Spain, the 

 unopened flower-stalks of which are 



