180 
Aug., 1892. 
THE CULTIVATION OF ORCHIDS. 
(S3 
exclusion of all other vegetation. We can grow palms, 
begonias, ferns, dipladenias, stephanotis, &c., in an ordinary 
plant stove, but the orchids which have grown side by side 
with them in their natural habitats must be placed in a 
structure called an orchid house. It may be taken as a rule 
that wherever tropical ferns and fine foliage plants succeed 
there also orchids, or at least many of them, will luxuriate, 
often with far greater chances of success than when placed in 
our so-called orchid houses, which, however desirable, are not 
absolutely essential to their culture. 
I do not to-night intend to go into a minute botanical 
description of an orchid, but will only give you a rough 
outline of their characteristics. 
ROOTS. 
The popular designation of “ air plants ” that was long 
applied to orchids, and which still survives in the name of 
the genus aerides, indicates a character distinguishing a large 
number of species, namely, all those which in a state of 
nature grow upon trees and other plants, living upon the 
moisture in the air and having no communication with the 
earth by means of roots, as in ordinary plants. These were 
at one time regarded as parasites, but as they do not derive 
any of their support from the substance of their host, the 
term was inaccurate, and epiphyte, meaning simply a plant 
which grows upon another, was applied to orchids and others 
of like habit. The epiphytes comprise a large proportion of the 
tropical orchids, which luxuriate in warm, moist climates, and 
clothe living and dead trees with fresh green leaves and beau¬ 
tiful flowers. Another large group of species, including those 
of temperate climates, such as we are familiar with in Britain, 
are termed terrestrial, from their growing in soil like most 
plants. These two groups naturally differ considerably in their 
roots, as they have very different functions to perform. In the 
former or epiphytes the roots are mostly thick and fleshy, 
often green, like the leaves or stems, but sometimes white or 
ash coloured, cylindrical or flat, varying in size from about 
half an inch in diameter to the most slender fibres, and in 
length from a few inches to two or three feet. The roots of 
most epiphytal orchids appear to prefer growing in the air to 
being surrounded by any moisture-holding substance, and in 
cultivated plants this is especially noticeable, much injury 
being often done by burying the roots deeply. The roots of 
such genera as the Moth Orchid (plialsenopsis) are very 
strange, flat, and of an ashy or leaden colour. These cling 
closely to the wooden blocks or baskets in which the plants 
are grown, and often present an appearance almost suggestive 
