65 
ON ORCHIDEiE. 
Now that general attention is directed so strongly to orchi¬ 
daceous plants, it becomes necessary that every cultivator should 
know something of them in a natural position, that he may have 
a principle on which to found his operations. Geographically 
considered, they have a most extensive range, yet a peculiar 
feature marks all their favorite haunts. To enter on anything 
like a detail of the varied situations, and affective circumstances 
under which they are found, would extend this paper too far. 
But a mention of some of the places in which they are most 
abundant may be useful to the beginner, as a reference from 
which he may consult other and more extended accounts. 
The essential agents in the production and continuance of 
Orchideee appear to be great warmth and moisture ; there is no 
place in which they abound more than where it is hot and damp, 
even to saturation. Still there are some (and by no means in¬ 
conspicuous) species that are found to succeed better in a com¬ 
paratively low temperature, and, with a judicious application of 
moisture, attain a robust habit in a temperature but little higher 
than that of a common greenhouse ; such plants are mostly from 
elevated districts. Of the two necessary agents mentioned, 
moisture certainly exhibits the greatest effect on them, and in 
the proper appliance and withholding of which rest the entire 
art of their cultivation, for these plants will bear an increase or 
diminution of temperature better than an ill-timed alteration in 
the supply of moisture. 
In Mexico, whence some of our finest varieties have been 
introduced, the temperature ranges from 60 to 70°, and is ex¬ 
ceedingly damp in low lying lands ; in such places they abound 
in vast quantities. They are also found in the Philippine 
Islands, Spanish Main, Bombay, and Silhet, and grow vigorously 
at Calcutta during the wet season, but the seasonal occurrence of 
drought nearly destroys them. In Nepaul, and the range of 
the Nepaulese hills, they are found extensively; and in Java, 
Sumatra, Essequibo, and Gurruckpore; also in the Isle of France, 
where the temperature varies from 78 to 84°. They are likewise 
in the Bahamas, Cuba, Columbia, and on the continent of India; 
and are numerous along the Martaban rivers, where the moisture 
8 
VOL. IV. NO. IV. 
