or reddish flowers towards the end of Summer. The Bee Orchis, Ophrys apifera; Fly Orchis, O. muscifera; and the Spider Orchis, O. aranifera, are so named from the resemblance their flowers bear to those insects. The Helleborines, Cephalanthera, have leafy stems and white or rosy flowers. C. grandiflora, with large white flowers, is a very conspicuous plant in copses on a chalky soil. A very common species is the Twayblade, Listèra ovata, a plant about 18 inches high, with two opposite oval ribbed leaves, from between which springs a long slender raceme of yellowish-green flowers. None of these plants are of easy culture, and perhaps the terrestrial less so than the epiphytes, of which there are no hardy species. But still some careful gardeners contrive to grow some of them successfully, such as the Lady's Slipper, Cypripedium Calceolus (fig. 226), a rare indigenous plant with reddish-brown and yellow flowers, found in two or three localities only in the North of England. There are several more showy North American species; as C. guttàtum, purplish-violet spotted and edged with white; C. cándidum, white; C. spectabile, white tinged with purple,

etc.

RDER VII-MUSÀCEÆ.

The species of Banana, Mùsa, are employed in the open air during Summer in sheltered localities for the sake of their broad effective foliage. They are stemless or caulescent herbs with large simple sheathing leaves often several feet long and spathaceous flowers which are not produced without the aid of artificial heat. M. Sinensis, M. coccinea and M. Ensète, etc. are the species in general cultivation. But these are so rarely seen that detailed descriptions would be of little service.

ORDER VIII.-MARANTÀCEÆ.

This is another order of almost exclusively sub-tropical plants recently come into vogue for Summer bedding, which on account of their smaller stature, annual stems, and tuberous roots, are better suited for that purpose than many other tender plants. The structure of the flowers is somewhat singular. Perianth superior, composed of 6 segments in two series, the 3 outer forming a 3-lobed calyx, and the 3 inner a tubular irregular

1-lipped corolla. Fruit capsular.

Stamens 3, petaloid, 2 barren, and 1 fertile.
Various species and varieties of the genus

Cánna, Indian Shot, are grown for the purpose indicated. They

Fig. 228. Thalia dealbata. (About nat. size.)

are tufted herbs with handsome sheathing leaves and spikes of yellow, scarlet or orange flowers. C. Indica (fig. 227), a native of South America, has bright scarlet flowers; C. glauca is an. East Indian plant with pale yellow flowers and glaucous foliage.

C. édulis, from South America, is a taller species, 5 to 6 feet high, with reddish stems and orange-scarlet flowers; C. coccinea, from the same country, has scarlet flowers with the labellum spotted; C. angustifòlia or speciòsa, from Brazil, has narrower leaves than any of the preceding, and yellow and red flowers; C. Warscewiczii, from New Grenada, has dark-coloured stems and purple-bordered foliage. There are many other species and varieties in cultivation, and the number is increasing every year, so that the latest information can only be gleaned from the florists' catalogues.

Thàlia dealbàta (fig. 228) is a hardy North American plant belonging to this family. It is an elegant herbaceous aquatic from 2 to 4 feet high with fine glaucous foliage and handsome panicles of purple flowers. It should be planted in a good depth of water to enable it to resist the effects of our Winters.

The exclusively American order, Bromeliacea, belongs to the group of Endogens, with an inferior seed vessel; but only the three inner perianth-segments are petaloid. Pùya Chilénsis, syn., Pourretia coarctata, a half hardy shrub, is one of the largest species. It has a branching stem of three to four feet high, crowned with rosettes of tough linear leaves, from the centre of which spring the large spicate panicles, six to eight feet high, of yellow flowers.

ORDER IX.-IRIDÀCEÆ.

Perennial often tuberous-rooted herbs with usually glabrous equitant distichous leaves and terminal bracteate spikes, umbels, corymbs or panicles of showy flowers. Perianth superior, composed of six divisions in two series, equal or unequal, the inner sometimes smallest. Stamens 3. Stigmas often petaloid. Fruit an inferior 3-celled many - seeded capsule dehiscing loculicidally. Seeds spheroid, angular or winged, albuminous. This order comprises about 50 genera and 500 species, dispersed throughout the temperate regions of the whole world. The British species are few and rare, with the exception of Iris Pseudúcorus, the Yellow Flag.

1. SISYRÍNCHIUM.

Tuberous or thick fibrous - rooted plants with grass-like radical equitant leaves. Flower-scape usually flattened and two-edged. Flowers umbellate or solitary. Perianth regular,

spreading or campanulate, segments equal, tube short. Stamens on the throat of the perianth. Stigmas three, entire, chiefly from North and South America. The etymology of the name is uncertain. There are two or three hardy species in cultivation.

1. S. Bermudiànum, syn. S. ánceps. A dwarf species from 12 to 18 inches high, with linear leaves and a sharply two-edged flower-scape. Flowers few in each umbel, bright blue, perianthsegments mucronate. A native of North America, flowering in

Summer.

2. S. convolutum, syn. Márica convoluta.-A rather tender species about six inches high, growing in dense tufts. Scapes about 3 or 4-flowered. Flowers yellow, appearing in May. South America.

3. S. grandiflorum.-A pretty tuberous-rooted plant with the aspect of Iris Xiphium. Scapes nearly round, bearing 3 or 4 large campanulate purplish-violet or white flowers. This is the handsomest of the genus and one of the hardiest. It is a native of North America, and blooms from April to June.

There are several other less hardy species occasionally seen: as, S. bicolor, violet spotted with yellow; S. odoratissimum, with very fragrant white flowers; and S. Califórnicum, with bright yellow flowers.

2. LIBERTIA.

A small genus differing from Sisyrinchium in the outer perianth-lobes being smaller than the inner and often green, free or almost free filaments, and versatile anthers. Flowers always white, arranged in sub-umbellate panicles. The species are natives of Australasia and South America and rather tender. Named after a Belgian lady-botanist. L. ixioides is a New Zealand species from 2 to 3 feet high with rigid linear foliage and close clustered simple panicles of white flowers about an inch in diameter. L. Magellánica is a dwarfer plant with denser spikes of pure white flowers. The latter is sometimes sold under the name formòsa.

3. VIEUSSEÚXIA.

Half-hardy South African tuberous-rooted herbs with narrow equitant and branching stems bearing pedunculate flowers which exceed the spathaceous bracts. Perianth with the 3 inner segments much smaller than the outer. Filaments united in a tube. This genus was named in honour of a Swiss phy

sician. There are several ornamental species, but being tender they are little grown. V. glaucopis has the large outer perianth-segments of a pure white with a blue spot in the centre encircled with brown. V. villòsa, syn. Morda villòsa, has lilac flowers whose outer perianth-lobes have a blue blotch separated by a black stripe from the orange centre.

4. FERRARIA.

Near Morda, but with the filaments united in a tube and the petaloid stigmas fringed. A South African genus of several species with curiously spotted evanescent flowers. F. undulata has the flowers spotted with purple upon a green ground, and there are many other remarkable species. Named after Ferrari, an Italian botanist.

5. MOREA.

Plants very much resembling the Irises, but with all the divisions of the perianth equally spreading. Perianth-tube short, the three inner segments of its limb smaller, convolute after flowering. Stamens distinct. Style slender, with three petaloid bifid stigmas. Leaves few and narrow. Flowers of various colours, rising from spathaceous sheaths. Chiefly from South of Africa. Named in honour of R. Moore, an English botanist. The species are numerous and very showy. We may mention: M. bicolor, yellow, the outer petals with a dark purple spot encircled with orange, much larger than the inner; M. iridioides, white, with yellow or brown spots; M. edulis, very much like an Iris, with violet flowers, outer lobes of the perianth with a yellow spot at the base. M. Sisyrinchium, syn. M. Tenoriana and Iris Sisyrinchium, is a South European species, with purple or blue flowers.

6. SCHIZOSTYLIS.

This genus consists of one species, S. coccineus, a very beautiful South African plant. It has a leafy stem about 3 feet high and bright crimson flowers similar to those of Gladiolus. Perianth salver-shaped, with equal spreading segments; stigmas filiform. From oxitw, to cut, and orûλos, a column, in allusion to the filiform stigmas.

7. TIGRÍDIA.

American bulbous dwarf plants with ensiform leaves as in Iris. The flowers are large and beautiful, but of short duration, always terminal, orange or yellow richly spotted, hence the name Tiger-Flower. Perianth-tube short, limb spreading, the