60 THE FLORIST AND 
wbich is termed eyipTiytal, and wliicli we i!?ust be careful not to confound 
with, the parasitic existence of certain vegetables whose roots pump up from 
under the bark the sap of living trees, as our Orchids demand nothing but a 
solid resting place and a shelter. 
In the limits where epiphytal Orchids are met, that is, within the tropics 
and a little beyond them, hardly farther, we think, than 30 degrees north 
or south, latitude are found the warmest parts of our globe ; the coasts and 
the low regions generally, are exposed to heat which European races can 
hardly support. However, the coasts and the provinces which border on it 
have been known and explored a long time before the more moderate parts 
which occupy the interior of the large continents of Asia and America ; 
and it was along the coast or at a little distance from it, that the first 
Orchids, on which the patience of European cultivators was exercised, were 
gathered. It was from that was originated and propagated the idea, in 
most cases erroneous, that Orchids do not prosper, except under the in- 
fluence of excessive temperatures. 
It is undoubtedly true that some Orchids are found near the ocean and 
almost on its shore, and that even under the equator, whose torrid heats 
they endure, thanks to the excessive moisture and thick shade of some low 
valleys, deep and watered. Yet this is only an exception, especially in 
America. In Asia, where the torrid part of the continent is suddenly 
broken off, on the south by the ocean, on the north by the highest mountains 
on the globe, and where climatic conditions are subject to the influence of 
this disposition, there are some races of Orchids, of powerful vegetation and 
splendid appearance, which inhabit extremely warm, but extremely moist 
forests of the lower parts of Hindostan, of the Malayan peninsula, of Java, 
Sumatra, Borneo, Lugon, New Guinea, the Molluccas, &c. I think that I 
can, however, afiirm : 1st. That in Asia, as in America, the number of 
species which live a little above the shore of the sea is much less than that 
of the species which inhabit the mountains and the plains of mean altitude. 
2d. That in Asia, the genera and species which flourish in the most burning 
districts, are not more numerous than in America, in the same conditions. 
In either continent, it is the regions sufficientiy elevated to enjoy a temperate 
climate, which are by far the richest in genera and species. 
(To be continued.) 
