The Ordway new era., 1911-04-14

and beautiful. are shaped like tbs
head OF a lance or pike-referrins no
doubt to tho weapon that pierced tho
sides OF the Savior-while they are
marked beneath with round spots.
signItyins the 80 pieces Of silver for
which Judas sold him."
Today this wonderful blossom 10
comparatively familiar and 10 known
~ the passion flower. Botanists call
1t Passifora incarmata- While its
pecu!iarities Of structure are undsni.
ably interesting. there 10 nothing
about II that to the sane eye suggests
the miraculous.
Holy Ghost Orchid.
The same observation does not ap.
ply. however to another plant. far
more remarkable. which 10 even At
the present day 20 great . rarity that
probably there are not . dosen speci.
mems Of It In all the United States.
Two Of these are in the presidents
greenhouse At Washington. It will
not survive unless kept In an OK.
tremely hot atmosphere laden with
moisture-a fact from which It may
be correctly inferred that this inter.
esting vegetable species IL . native
Of the torrid zone. Indeed, It grows
nowhere except close to the equator.
in wet and marshy places not far
from sea level. where the humid air
oppresses the traveller like 20 much
almost unbreathabls steam.
Such is the natural habitat Of the
Holy Ghost orchid. a. tho plant 10
called. 1t 10 true orchid. and. like
many others OF its botanical kind.
grows In earth. Its flowers are de-
veloped in little groups Of two or
three on \ vigorous green stem. and
in each Of them. whom It II fully open.
appears. sitting within the calyx Of
the snowy blossom. a little dove with
half-spread wings. So perfectly 10 1t
formed that even tho heshy excrss.
cence at the top of the beak. charac-
teristic Of pigeons. Is represented. 1t
is In fact. the most curious and won
derful Of natures limitations.
"LIIies Of the Field"
It is wholly uncertain what flower
Jesus had in mind when he spoke Of
the "lilies Of the field" which
though they toiled not. neither did
they spin-wers adorned more beau
tifully than Solomon In all his glory.
Certainly he was not speaking Of any
blossoms of tho type now represented
by what 10 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. as everybody knows. the
finest Of them all. and the one gensr-
ally grown at the present time In the
greenhouses Of this country. being a
native Of Japan-the Lilium Harrisii
A similar lily. though of different
variety, Is the Lilium candidum, or
Madonna lily, which is SO called be-
cause 1t is the flower that Is supposed
to have been presented to the virgin
by tho angel Of the annunciation.
One finds 1t thus depicted in ono 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 q bunch.
Resurrection Plant.
One of the most interesting Of the
vegetable species associated with Eas-
ter Ia the so-called resurrection plant.
which Is a kind of "tumble-weed." ma.
live to the region of the Dead sea.
Some of its relatives. botanically
speaking. are found In our own coun.
'ry and have similar habits. This
'umble-weed during part Of the year
dries up and, detaching itself from
the ground. assumes the form Of a
hall. seemingly dead-in which shape
i rolls before the wind, scattering Its
seeds As 1t goes. to take root and
Erow into more tumble-weeds.
OF all the many ingenious methods
= adopted by nature to accomplish the
distribution Of plants none IL more
odd than this. But when tho tumble
Feed, apparently defunct, is put into
rater, 10! It begins to sprout. and
10 as much alive az ever
Whence the popular name bestowed
L pom It.