A Trip to the Ozarks #8
but to the devotees of fashion it is the flower of all flowers,
the very acme of floral perfection. It has been called the Princess
of Flowers, and popular opinion ranks it at the head of the floral
aristocracy. A certain florist has been quoted as saying that the orchid
occupies the same rank in the cut-flower world as the diamond in the wworld
of precious stones.
Among the elite of our large cities the favorite Orchid for festal
occasions is the white Cattleya, a native of Tropical America, growing
from Mexicom as far south as Brazil. It is cultivated by both florists
and Orchid growers, and ranks as the largest and the handsomest of all
known Orchids. By these same florists and Orchid growers it is sold
for fabulous prices. The Orchid is a flower that assumes a variety of
irregular, fantastic and grotesque forms. There is an orchid that
resembles a brilliant little humming bird. There is an Orchid that
resembles a beautiful Moth with expanded wings - resembles it even to
rings, spots and markings on the insect's wings. There is a famous
Central American Orchid which resembles the head of a Bord of Paradise.
There is an Orchid called the Butterfly Orchid (Orcidium papillio), which
resembles a guady butterfly with outstretched wings. But perhaps the
most curious and unique of all known Orchids is that which is called the
Holy Spirit, or the Dove Plant. This Orchid is also a native of Central
America. It grows from 4 to 5 feet in height. Its flowers are globular,
white and very frangrant. The two stames and the pistil unite to
form what is called of the flower. The flower itself
forms a spherical case of alabaster whiteness within which is enclosed
a delicate little bird with expanded wings - a bird with the form of a
dove and of the form which artists adopt in typifying the Holy Spirit.
The Spanish Americans regard this Orchid with peculiar veneration, and
employ it profusely in their regligious festivals. They call El
Spirito Santo, the Holy Spirit. It has been cultivated, but it loses
much of its sixe and vigor outside of its native land.
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