THE ORCHID WORLD. 
249 
THE LOCAL HABITATION AND WANTS OF ORCHIDS. 
By DEAN HERBERT. 
(Communicated to the Horticultural Society, Nooemb?r 17th, 1845.) 
CEPHALANTHERA rubra (otherwise 
called Serapias rubra) is said to grow 
m the woods of Ineleboroup-h, in 
Yorkshire, and I once saw a weak specimen 
of it without flower in the neighbourhood of 
Hampton Common, in Gloucestershire. While 
I was in the neighbourhood of Thun I learnt 
that this plant, of which I had as yet seen 
nothing in my rambles amongst the woods in 
the mountains near the lake, inhabited a 
large wood further from the town. I was 
desirous of seeing it in its native place, with 
a view to observe what the circumstances 
were that caused it to be so rare and confined 
to peculiar localities. I therefore proceeded 
along the edge of the beautiful lake till I 
found myself opposite to the commencement 
of the wood that had been pointed out to me. 
It was very extensive, densely timberdd, and 
exceedingly steep, the lower part of the 
declivity being occupied by meads and vine- 
yards. It was evident that without some 
clue to discover the precise habitation of the 
plant I wished to find, I might, after a long 
scramble through a wood that was nearly 
precipitous, return home without seeing it. 
Looking therefore to the nature of the 
ground, it occurred to me that, if it grew 
under such thick shade in so steep a position, 
it would probably prefer the neighbourhood 
of some channel along which the rain-water 
rushed down from the mountain. I deter- 
mined, therefore, to attack the wood at that 
point, and, entering the dry and stony water- 
course by which the thunderstorm of the 
previous evening had hurried down its torrent 
to the lake, I followed it till I reached the 
border of the wood, and, entering it, I had 
not advanced two steps before I saw three 
plants of Cephalanthera rubra, weak and 
without flower, in the channel, and growing 
from under some round stones washed down 
from the conglomerate above. The groove 
was here very deep, and its sides, on the right 
and left, too steep to be climbed without 
laying hold of the roots or boughs. 
I made my way, however, to the top of it, 
and proceeded some way along the brow and 
sides without seeing any Orchidaceous plant, 
except the butterfly orchis. Thereupon I 
descended again to the bottom of the ravine, 
where I immediately found the Cephalanthera 
abundant, but weak, growing in a mixture of 
sand and rotten leaves under the round 
stones. Following the watercourse upwards 
I continued to find it, and at last, on an angle 
of a stronger yellow earth, at the junction of 
two watercourses, I found the plant more 
abundant, stronger, and just coming into 
flower. 
It seemed that this plant likes dense shade, 
not upon a northern slope, but in an aspect 
which lets in a checkering of sunshine ; that 
it requires the heavy coat of dead beech- 
leaves to be washed away by waters, and its 
roots to be frequently refreshed by the great 
body of water that runs down after every 
heavy rain, but dioes not remain and stagnate 
on the ground. The dead stems of last year 
were still adhering to the plants, and I did 
not see a single specimen with two stalks 
either of the present or of the last year. At 
the foot of each stalk, where it joined the 
fibrous roots, was a single eye for the next 
year's shoot. With this knowledge of the 
plant's habits (if those which I brought home 
survive the transplantation and journey in 
the season of their growth, so as to sprout 
again) I should hope to be able to cultivate 
them. 
I had previously observed that Cypripedium 
calceolus, growing in open grassy spots on 
the steepest knolls in the woods, was in its 
glory on the brow of a deep ravine through 
which a strong and constant stream of water 
ran down, which after heavy rains would be 
greatly swollen. The earth seemed also to 
be moistened with water from above, unable 
to penetrate the rock underneath, and occa- 
sionally bursting out through the soil. It is 
evident to me that mountain plants require 
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