root-stones; a genus of the diandria order, belonging to the gynandria class of plants. There are a great many species; but the most remarkable are the following. 1. The mascula, or male fool-stones, hath a root composed of two bulbs, crowned with oblong, broad, spotted leaves; upright-flasks, a foot high; garnished with one or two narrow amplexicaule leaves; and terminated by a long spike of reddish-purple flowers, having the petals reflexed backward; a quadrilobed crenated lip to the nectarium, and an obtuse horn. The flowers of this species possess a very agreeable odour.
2. The morio, or female orchis, hath a double bulbous root, crowned with oblong, ribbed, spreading leaves; erect flower-flasks, eight or ten inches high; garnished with a few amplexicaule leaves; and terminated by a short loose spike of flowers, having confluent petals, a quadrid crenated lip to the nectarium, and an obtuse horn.
3. The militaris, or man-orchis, hath a double bulbous root, crowned with oblong amplexicaule leaves; erect flower-flasks, eight or ten inches high; terminated by a loose spike of ash-coloured and reddish flowers, having confluent petals; a quinquefied, rough, spotted lip to the nectarium, and an obtuse horn. The structure of the flowers exhibit the figure of a naked man; and are often of different colours in the same flower, as ash-colour, red, brown, and dark-striped.
Culture and Properties. All the orchises are very hardy perennials, with bulbous fleathy roots. The flowers appear in May, June, and July, but principally in June: their mode of flowering is universally in spikes, many flowers in each spike; and each flower is composed of five petals in two series, and a nectarium. The season for removing them is in summer, after they have done flowering, when their leaves and stalks decay: plant them three inches deep, and let them remain undisturbed several years; for the less they are removed, the stronger they will flower.
The roots of all the species have a remarkable resemblance to the scrotum of animals, whence the name. This plant flourishes in various parts of Europe and Asia, and grows in our country spontaneously, and in great abundance. It is assiduously cultivated in the East; and the root of it forms a considerable part of the diet of the inhabitants of Turkey, Persia, and Syria. From it is made the alimentary powder called salep; which, prepared from foreign roots, is sold at five or six shillings per pound, though it might be furnished by ourselves at the sixth part of that price, if we chose to pay any attention to the culture of this plant. The orchis mascula is the most valued for this purpose. A dry and not very fertile soil is best adapted to its growth.
The properest time for gathering the roots, is when the seed is formed, and the stalk is ready to fall; because the new bulb, of which the salep is made, is then arrived to its full maturity, and may be distinguished from the old one, by a white bud rising from the top of it, which is the germ of the orchis of the succeeding year.
The culture of the orchis is an object highly deserving of encouragement from all the lovers of agriculture. And as the root, if introduced into common use, would furnish a cheap, wholesome, and most nutritious article of diet, the growth of it would be sufficiently profitable to the farmer. See Salep.