600 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
-hily 11, 190$. 
forms of 0. latifolia, of a. clear but rick purple, and certainly 
very handsome when, the plant is at all well grown. The 
species lias been introduced from time to time, and seems to 
offer no difficulties in the way of cultivation, provided the 
cultivator places it under proper conditions. In the south of 
England a little shade is desirable, but the drip of trees and 
the baneful effects of their roots must be avoided, otherwise 
the Orchids will soon get starved. Conditions similar to those 
mentioned for the above-mentioned species would enable this 
plant to make vigorous growth. A hard and dry soil is always 
to be avoided. Moisture may be secured toi some extent by 
using peat and plenty of leaf mould, even to the exclusion of 
the ordinary loam. It is a native of the Island of Madeira. 
Orchis purpurea. 
This forms a> pyramidal spike of bloom, and though the 
individual flowers are of good size the spike' is not so long as 
either of the above mentioned. Where the plant grows' in a 
wild state tire flowers are usually large and relatively few. The 
sepals and petals are green, more or less tinted with purple on 
the outside, but, as in the case of several other species, they 
are not very showy. The lip, however, is of large size, deeply 
feur-lobed, and pale rosy purple, spotted with darker markings. 
Tire' leaves are large and bold, but they are chiefly confined to 
the base of the flower-stem, several of them springing directly 
front the soil. It is not very plentiful in Britain except 
locally, but enjoys a fairly wide distribution over the Continent 
and in Asia Minor. 
0. nraculata. 
The spotted Orchis is the most common and the most widely 
distributed of all the British species. Frequently it is found 
on the chalk downs, and the idea is impressed on one that it 
only grows in such situations. Those who have been over a 
large area of Britain, however, and have come upon, this species 
growing under various conditions, can see- that it grows not 
merely upon chalk, but in soil of a, very varied character, and 
that when this soil isi moist the Orchis usually grows, in greater 
abundance and of better colour than when growing upon dry, 
chalk downs. When untilled meadows occur at the foot of 
these chalk downs and not veiy much frequented by the public, 
this species may be found in the greatest abundance and usually 
of great vigour and varying colour from pure white to dark 
purple, with every conceivable' pattern of spotting. 
Further to the north, where the rainfall is greater' and this 
Orchis is found in the wet soil, or even in, boggy situations', it 
will be found to grow much more rampantly than on chalk. In 
some cases: also both the vigour of the plants, the spotting of 
the leaves, and the colour of the flowers would lead one to 
suspect that it is-0. latifolia. This may and does occur where 
there is only an ordinary amount of lime in the soil and nothing 
approaching a, limestone formation, anywhere in the vicinity. 
Some of these fine forms have been collected and named, 
but anyone who 1 has the fortune to' find improvements in a 
meadow where this, forms a conspicuous feature of the vegeta¬ 
tion, or on the moist side of a mountain, will be able to gather 
numerous forms as good as those that have been named, and, 
differing only in minor details with regard to spotting and the 
shade of colour. Indeed, this species is almost as variable as 
the exotic Odontoglossum crispum, except that the spots are* 
always much smaller'. The Orchids of temperate' countries', it 
may be remembered, seldom give rise' toi parti-coloured flowers 
with large blotches. 
0. pyramidalis. 
This is one of the neatest of our native species of Orchis, 
having a pyramidal raceme of relatively small and closely com¬ 
pacted flowers of great beauty. The colour is of a, rich rose 
or rosy red. It frequents chalk pastures! and chalk downs, but 
should be capable of cultivation by the introduction of cal¬ 
careous matter or chalk in the soil. 
0. Morio. 
The green-winged Orchis frequents moist meadows, and 
flowers about the end of May. It is scarcely so conspicuous as 
either of the above, but is, nevertheless, veiy pretty when seen 
making vigorous growth. The sepals and petals are more or 
less shaded with green, making them rather inconspicuous, but 
the lip is of good average size and varying from light to dark 
purple, with a pale area in the centre beautifully marked with 
darker spots. This does not seem to flower with the same 
regularity every year, but that may be a trait common to 
several of our native species which seem to take a rest in 
alternate years. 
0. mascula. 
The name of Early Purple Orchis is very appropriately 
applied to this species, as it is the earliest to come into bloom. 
The flowers make their appearance in April, even in the 
northern parts of the island, at least, when growing in shel¬ 
tered places where trees are growing, but. not too thickly upon 
the ground. In other cases it may be found abundantly in 
open meadows in, company with 0. Morio. The flowers are 
usually of a rich dark purple, without very conspicuous spot¬ 
ting, and although not very numerous, on the stalk, as a rule, 
they are generally more plentiful than those of Morio. Their 
size and rich colour, as well as earliness, make it a species 
sufficiently ornamental to be worthy of cultivation in, a col¬ 
lection of hardy Orchids, or even on a rockery of alpine rork 
plants in general. 
The Daisy. 
Mr. R. L. Praeger writes in the current “ Knowledge ” on 
wild flowers of the most familiar- and beshloved kinds, among 
them the Daisy, of which he says : “ The yellow button-like 
disk is composed of a' myriad of small, perfect flowers, with 
yellow, tive-cleft tubular corolla, and ring of fused stamens sur¬ 
rounding- the pistil. Of calyx we find hardly a trace; the close 
packing of the flowers' leaves no, room for it, and renders it un¬ 
necessary as a protective structure. In the Compositae the 
calyx is usually reduced to a few hairs, which often play a 
valuable part in aiding seed-dispersal, as we shall see, by grow¬ 
ing as the fruit ripens into a feathery plume or pappus, which 
acts as a parachute. The marginal or ray flowers of our Daisy 
have no stamens 1 —are female; and their corolla is white, and 
greatly expanded in an outward direction—the only direction 
in which there is room for expansion. These ray flowers, in 
fact, are largely useful in advertising the otherwise incon¬ 
spicuous flower-head. Similar devices we have already noted 
in the wild Guelder Rose; and we may compare with these such 
flower-heads as those of the little Cornel (Cornus suecica) and 
the Astrantias, in which the flowers are surrounded by a ring 
of coloured leaves, which serve the same purpose. Finally, our 
Daisy head is surrounded by a close-fitting double ring of small 
leaves, the involucre, which encloses the whole in bud, and 
plays the part that a calyx usually plays in a single flower. 
. . . It is, perhaps, among some of the larger members 
of the Daisy group that the composite inflorescence attains its 
greatest, beauty and perfection. Examine such a flower-form 
as the Ox-eye Daisy. First, w r e have the close-lapping scales 
of the involucre, securely enclosing the whole, and protecting 
it when in bud. Then the splendid ring of ray-flowers, whose 
object is to render the inflorescence more conspicuous. Thus 
we find these enormously-expanded corollas often assuming a 
tint other than that of the main mass of flowers—white when 
the disk is yellow, as in the Ox-eye; in other species blue, or 
purple, or yellow, accompanying a. yellow or greyish disk. 
These ray-florets have sacrificed their perfection as flowers for 
the purposes of advertisement, and are usually devoid of 
both stamens and pistil. Finally, we have the dense mass of 
disk-florets, all perfect, producing a quantity of minute fruits. 
As for the fruit of the Corymbiterae, a large number rely on 
wind carriage, and the calyx segments take the form of hairs, 
which grow into a more or less perfect parachute to aid in 
transporting the comparatively large fruit to pastures new.” 
