ORCHIDS. 



rPHE Orchid family is one of the most important of cultivated natural orders, and one 

 that, during the last half-century, has attained great popularity. The reason is not 

 far to seek, for the plants combine 

 marked individuality with marvel- 

 lous variety, and among them may 

 be found some of the most beautiful 

 of Nature's products. The earliest 

 record of their culture goes far back 

 into the eighteenth century, though 

 at that time their requirements were 

 not in the least understood, and the 

 earliest attempts at their culture 

 were very disappointing. Knowing 

 little about their habits or habitats 

 beyond the fact that they came from 

 tropical countries, cultivators of a 

 century ago were sadly handicapped ; 

 the houses, too, that they possessed 

 were quite unsuitable for orchid 

 cultivation. Little wonder that for 

 many years orchids were looked 

 upon as almost impossible plants for 

 cultivation. 



The first species cultivated in 

 England appears to have been Bletia 

 verecunda (Fig. 16), which was sent 

 home from the Bahamas, and first 

 flowered in 1732. Another very old 

 kind is the Vanilla, and of this we find mention in [old gardening works as being 

 in cultivation at Kew and the Apothecaries' Garden at Chelsea in 1768. Among the 



Fig. 16. Bletia verecunda. 

 References: — 1, column; 2, scape (flower stem), 4 to 5 feet 

 high ; 3, leaf, 2 to 3 feet long ; 4, flower with perianth forced 

 back ; 5, lip ; 6, pollen mas ses magnified. 



