Page:Appendix to the first twenty-three volumes of Edwards's Botanical Register.djvu/59

He says, "we have a fine showy orchis which propagates freely by the roots, and which I have no doubt would answer well in the open air in England, if the roots were treated like the Persian Ranunculus, and kept in a dry warm room in winter. The roots of the flowering plants are about six inches long, and resemble a good deal the roots of Anthericum Liliastrum, being thickest at the end farthest from the stem. Two or three are produced annually, and the old ones decay. On rich calcareous soil this orchis grows two feet high, and the flowers are large in proportion, and showy; the colours are orange and purple." Probably the plant intended is Caladenia longicauda. (Plate VIII. fig. A.)

To these hints it seems only necessary to add, that the summer heat of the ground in which such plants are found is probably about 80°; and to remind the reader that the land at Swan River is generally springy, so that there must be an abundant supply of moisture to the roots of plants when growing.

One of the finest and most numerous genera is Thelymitra, the species of which are stout herbaceous plants, with the habit of the European Orchis or Serapias, but with much gayer colours and larger flowers. Th. fusco-lutea, R. Br., is the only described species which I have seen, all the others being new; of these a figure of T. villosa,²¹¹ the most striking

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⁽²¹¹⁾ Thelymitra villoso (Tab. VIII. C); folio radicali oblongo apiculato subtùs villoso caulinis linearibus acuminatis glabris, racemo cylindraceo, floribus luteis, cuculli lacinils lateralibus glandulosis recurvis intermediâ denticulatâ emarginatâ.

⁽²¹²⁾ Thelymitra stellata; folio radicali oblongo glabro, racemo cylindraceo, floribus fuscis? stellato-patentibus: laciniis acuminatis, cuculli laciniis lateralibus fimbriatis margine postico pulvinatis villosis: intermediâ carnosâ galeatâ breviore dorso tuberculatâ.

⁽²¹³⁾ Thelymitra macrophylla; folio radicali erecto elongato lanceolato, racemo elongato cylindraceo, floribus purpureis, cuculli laciniis lateralibus parvis stuposis: intermediâ majore fornicatâ glabrâ.

⁽²¹⁴⁾ helymitra crinita; folio radicali oblongo apiculato glabro, racemo cylindraceo, floribus purpureis, cuculli laciniis lateralibus barbatis unguiculatis intermediâ fornicatâ emarginatâ dorso glanduloso-villosâ.

⁽²¹⁵⁾ Thelymitra campanulata; folio radicali lineari, racemo secundo multifloro, floribus purpureis campanulatis, cuculli laciniis lateralibus subulatis apice barbatis intermediâ tripartitâ dorso glandulosâ.—T. tigrinæ aff.

⁽²¹⁶⁾ Thelymitra graminea; folio radicali lineari, racemo secundo multifloro, floribus purpureis, cuculli laciniis lateralibus stuposis unguiculatis intermediâ fornicatâ integerrimâ glaberrimâ.