noun
definition
Any plant of the genus Orchis; an orchid.
definition
Testis
Examples of orchis in a Sentence
The word Orchis is used in a special sense to denote a particular genus of the Orchid family (Orchidaceae); very frequently, also, it is employed in a more general way to indicate any member of that large and very interesting group. It will be convenient here to use the word Orchis as applying to that particular genus which gives its name to the order or family, and to employ the term "orchid" in the less precise sense.
Such being in general terms the mechanism of the flower of a common orchis, let us now see how it acts.
This fact will account for the profusion with which some orchids, like the common bee orchis for instance, are found in some seasons and their scarcity in others.
Geranium, Cardamine pratensis, mallows, Rubus, Oxalis, Epilobium, &c., but many species show more or less well-marked median symmetry (zygomorphism) as Euphrasia, Orchis, thyme, &c., and red, blue and violet are the usual colours.
Thyme and the small white dune-rose (Rosa pimpinellifolia) also grow in the dunes, and wall-pepper (Sedum acre), field fever-wort, reindeer moss, common asparagus, sheep's fescue grass, the pretty Solomon-seal (Polygonatum officinale), and the broadleaved or marsh orchis (Orchis latifolia).
An orchis found in the mountain yields the dried tuber which affords the nutritious mucilage called salep; a good deal of this goes to India.
The number of pollinia varies; thus, in Orchis there are usually two, in Cattleya four, and in Laelia eight.
The two pollinia in Orchis Morio contain each about 200 secondary smaller masses.
The two anther-cases in an orchis are erect and nearly parallel the one to the other; the pollen-masses within them are of course in like case, as may be thus represented II, but immediately the pollen-masses are removed movements take place at the base of the caudicle so as to effect the bending of this stalk and the placing the pollen-mass in a more or less horizontal position, thus -, or, as in the case of 0.
A few native species, however, can be grown in gardens, and of these one of the most singularly beautiful is the Bee Orchis (O. apifera).
Other interesting species for a collection of hardy Orchids are O. muscifera (Fly Orchis), arachnites and aranifera (Spider Orchis).
Orchis Foliosa - A handsome Orchid, one of the finest of the hardy kinds, 2 feet or more in height, with long spikes of rosy-purple blossoms in May, lasting long in bloom.
Orchis Laxiflora - A pretty species, 1 foot to 18 inches high, with loose spikes of rich purplish-red flowers, opening in May and June, and thriving in a moist spot in the rock garden.