8 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
special treatment quite outside the sphere of an ordinary garden 
collection. 
Terrestrial Orchids. — Of all the terrestrial Orchids, Cypripediums 
are the most popular. In many gardens they form the only repre- 
sentatives of the family, and although their cultivation requires a 
minimum of skill and attention they cannot be entirely omitted 
from our consideration. Cypripediums in their native home enjoy 
a remarkable uniformity of temperature, an almost continually moist 
condition of the soil, and a high degree of atmospheric humidity 
throughout the year ; under these conditions they continue to grow, 
practically without interruption. With such surroundings as these, 
ever in the most favourable condition for the existence of the plant, 
there is no need whatever for the pseudo-bulbs so necessary in the 
case of Orchids requiring reserve material to carry them through 
periods of drought. 
Briefly, the essential points of cultivation are a fibrous, loamy 
dompost, continual moisture at the roots as well as in the atmosphere, 
and judicious shading whenever bright sunshine is likely to scorch 
the foliage. Although the best results are obtained with a minimum 
night temperature of 55-60 0 F., there are many elegant hybrids, 
chiefly of C. insigne, that will withstand without harm a temperature 
of 45 0 F. Even with the Cypripediums requiring considerable warmth 
but little harm will accrue if on cold wintery nights the thermometer 
drops to 45 0 F., provided that the amount of moisture is considerably 
reduced. 
Nothing is so detrimental to these plants as a dry compost, a 
sunny situation, or an airy and dry atmosphere. Speaking generally, 
Cypripediums succeed well in warm houses where ferns and other 
shade-loving plants are cultivated with success. An examination 
of the roots of a Cypripedium will show that they are abundantly 
supplied with root-hairs for the purpose of more readily collecting 
the nutritive material from the surrounding soil. 
Epiphytic Orchids. — Having somewhat briefly dwelt upon the 
nature of the terrestrial section, we will pass on to the epiphytic 
Orchids, which embrace by far the largest number of plants seen in 
collections, while their extreme beauty renders them of first-class 
importance. 
To many admirers of these wonderful flowers the term epiphytic 
does not signify much more than a condition of " living on the air." 
Many illustrations of the past depicted these plants clinging to the 
trunks or branches of trees, and gained from them the name of " air 
plants." 
In order to understand clearly the nature of an Epiphytic Orchid 
it may assist to examine three distinct methods by which plants " live 
upon others." 
(1) Parasites.— These plants, of which the Mistletoe is a well- 
known example, obtain the greater part, if not all, of their nutritive 
requirements from the plant upon which they dwell ; they, in fact, 
