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VARIEGATED ORCHIDS. 



Variegated Orchids, 



Orchids, as \Yell as most other orders of the vegetable 

 kingdom, have their variegated species, and in these, as 

 well as among other variegated plants, the flowers are 

 generally small and unattractive, as compared with the 

 novelty and charm of their foliage. The genus Ansecto- 

 chilus is one of the most remarkable of these. The plants 

 are dwarf in habit, but perfect in form, and exceedingly 

 beautiful ; their height vaiies from two to four or six inches, 

 and their leaves, which are well defined, and generally ob- 

 tuse in form, vary from tAvo to four inches in length, 

 including the stalk, which, like the stem of the plant, is 

 short and fleshy. The foliage of all the species is remark- 

 ably singular and beautiful, on some of the varieties, 

 resembling the richest olive or almost purple-coloured 

 velvet, veined in regular lines, or covered with a net-work 

 of gold. In other species the colour of the leaf is rich and 

 lively green, marked with silver tracing over its entire sur- 

 face. The plants require to be grown in sand mixed with 

 moss; and the white ground from which they spring, 

 enlivened occasionally by the small growth of the moss 

 on the surface, exhibits the plants themselves to the best 

 possible advantage, especially as they require to be grown 

 beneath bell-glasses ; seen under which, the delicacy, rich- 

 ness, and softness of the appearance of the whole plant is 

 increased. Very few visitors walk through an Orchid house 

 containing any of these plants, without bestowing on them 



