Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1911-04-16


and beautiful, are shaped like tbs
head of lance or pike-referring n
doubt to the weapon that pierced the
sides of the Savior-while they are
marked beneath with round spots
signifying the 80 pieces of silver fol
which Judas sold him."
To-day this wonderful blossom !;
comparatively familiar and Is known
as the passion flower Botanistu cal
it Pass!hqra incarmeta: While It,
peculiarities OF structure are undeni
ably interesting, there is nothing
about 1t that to the sane eye suggests
the miraculous.
Holy Ghost Orchid.
The same observation does not ap
ply, however to another plant. fal
more remarkable, which IL even al
the present day SO great q rarity thai
probably there are not a dozen speci
mems of 1t in all the United States
Two Of these are in the president, {
greenhouse at Washington. It vii
not survive unless kept in an ex
tremely hot atmosphere laden witt
moisture-a fact from which 1t ma
be correctly inferred that this inter
esting vegetable species Is q nativ.
Of the torrid zone. Indeed, 1t grow.
nowhere except close to the eQuato.
in wet and marshy places not ia,
from sea level, where the humid al
Expresses the traveller like 80 much
almost unbreathable steam.
Such Is the natural habitat Of the
Holy Ghost orchid, as the plant Is
called. 1t Is true orchid, and, like
many others of its botanical kind
grows in earth. It's flowers Are de
veloped in little groups of two Q;
three on vigorous green stem, and
in each Of them, when 1t Is fully open
appears. sitting within the calyx o.
the snowy blossom, little dove with
half-spread wings. So perfectly is il
formed that even the 1eshy excres,
cence at the top Of the beak, charac.
terisuc Of pigeons, Is represented. II
is, in fact. the most curious and won.
derful Of natures limitations.
"LiIles Of the Field"
1t Is wholly uncertain what flower
Jesus had in mind when he spoke OF
the ''lilies Of the held." which
though they toiled not. neither did
they spin-were adorned moro beau.
tifully than Solomon In all his glofs.
Certainly he was not speaking Of any
blossoms Of the type now represented
by what Is called the Easter lily. be,
cause no such lilies were known in
the Palestine Of his day, all Of them
being Of exclusively eastern Asiatic
origin. OF these lilies there are many
varieties. ~ everybody knows. the
finest Of them all, and the one gener
ally grown at the present time in the
greenhouses Of this country. being
native Of Japan-the Lilium Har1 !;
A similar lily. though OF different
variety. 10 the Lilium candidum. o,
Madonna lily. which is 80 called be
cause 1t 10 the flower that 10 supposed
to have been presented to the virgin
BY the angel Of the annunciation.
One finds it thus depicted in one Of
the most famous paintings of Murillo
But, as above suggested, this lovely
type Of blossom was not known In
Palestine 1900 years ago-a fact, how,
ever, which does by no means pre-.
clude the possibility that an angel
might have obtained a bunch.
Resurrection Plant.
One Of the most interesting Of the
vegetable species associated with Eas.
ter is the so-called resurrection plant,
which is kind of "tumble-weed," ma.
tive to the region of the Dead sea.
Some Of its relatives, botanically
| speaking, are found In our own coun.
try and have similar habits. This
tumble-weed during part of the year
dries up and, detaching itself from
the ground. assumes the form Of q
| ball, seemingly dead-in which shape
it rolls before the wind, scattering its
seeds as 1t goes, to take root and
grow into more tumble-weeds.
| OF all the many ingenious methods
adopted by nature to accomplish the
distribution of plants none is more
odd than this. But when the tumble
| weed, apparently defunct. is put Int
/ water. 10! it begins to sprout. and
| presently is as much alive as ever
Whence the popular name bestowed
! upca It.
q 1Ht4a