Evening star., 1921-09-18
Peculiar Panan1an Orchid.

THE celebrated and distinctive
orchid of the Isthmus of Panama
derives its fame not so much from
its great size or beauty. as is the
! case with the orchids of our florists
windows. as from the wonderful de-
gree in which it exemplifies the
principle of mimicry in nature. FL
espiritu santo. as some long forgotten
pioneer Christian called the flower
generations ago. is the Spanish name
Of Peristeria elata, a terrestrial orchid
that is found only in Panama and i'm
mediately adjoining countries.
What makes ii famous is the start
ling resemblance of the central col
umn inside the flower to whit.
dove. The flower is about as large
as a ducks egg, with three lobes IN
the center. forming the body and the
wings of the dove. and with num-
ber of white petals surrounding the
central figure. The way in which the
dove sits up in its bower is so nat
urai that the name is almost an i'm
mediate thought in the mind Of any
one familiar with the religious en-
blems of the church. 1t is not far
fetched and fanciful resemblance, as
are SO many cases of orchids said -
look like animals, but positively
startling in its yerismilitude.
The plant is one of the class OF
orchids which grows in the ground.
among which are the original orchids,
to which belongs the honor of naming
the whole order. as well as the Cyp-
ripedium family. the Lissochilus %
Africa and Others. II sometimes ha.
| its flower stalk as high as four feet
with the leaves not much shorter:
while the green bulb at the base may.
be as large as haby's head. Th+.
leaves are from three TO five in num-
ber. light green. and look so muci1
like palm leaves that the plant il
apt to be mistaken for a young palm
if not in bloom or if one does not
| look down in the grass for the bulb.
The bulb does not lie under the sur
face of the earth, like those of Ue
lily, but sits on top of the ground.
with a mass of roots on its under
side in the soil. thfs habit being un
| usual among terrestrial orchids. ala
though it is the rule with plants o.
this sort. whose bulbs usually sit uT
on the trunk of a tree with hairy
roots attached beneath.
While Panama is the habitat of the
Peristera elata exclusively, there ar
! other species of the genus in Costa
are greatly inferior to the pride of
| the isthmus. where the flower stalk
| sometimes has as many as forty
| blossoms on it at one time, the blooms
staying in condition for month or
! more.
The places liked best by espiritu
santo are upland swamps-that is.
where there is water enough in the
| soil for their use but not enough
; to prevent their proper development.
They are not apt to be found on the
| low ground near the sea, however
rich: they seem to require a certain
7; amount of drainage. Rarely will one
be found on high and dry land. but
/ the most likely spots are the rocky
| hillsides near the source of peren-
! nial streams. where black humus lie
in shallow depressions among the
| rocks.
! Curiously enough. perhaps the mos
f1ourishineL patch of them on tn
isthmus is an artificial bed. An abar
doned excavation. the remains OF tn
old French work, presents serie
! of benches or shelves cut into the
rock of a hill. These shelves hav.
accumulated enough soil and decayed
vegetable matter on the surface OF
the tall grass and small shrubs there
| afford the needful shade. On the
| lower branches of this excavation
water seeps into the shelves all the
year round; and it is also drained by
| the rough level Of the surface 10
about the right dampness. for the
plants are in amazing profusion and
| in better condition there than any
where else.
Thera are other patches near this
artificial one. and the orchids grow
| only on the western side of the cut.
| which has an eastern exposure. IL
| looks almost as if some Frenchman
planted them there. This is made
/, the more likely since one collector
found nearly similar plant in this
patch. which, however. is more like a
! certain African orchid than any other
| on the isthmus. This African orchid
is the Lissochilus. a native of the CEN
ter of the continent, and one which. il
successfully hybridized with the Pan
anna one, would produce an extraor-
dinary flower. probably of great value.
But the history of that patch is en-
| tirely lost now.
! Owing to the large and fleshy bulbs
which carry so large an amount Of
| food for the plant, it is comparatively
| easy to transport and to transplant.
Some of them were sent to the botan-
4 ical gardens in New York and Wash
! ington. where they. bloomed and
seemed to thrive, according to ac-
| counts.