Miussour1 Botanical 
Garden Bulletin 
Vol. I St. Louis, Mo., December, 1913 No. 12 
ORCHIDS. 
The orchids undoubtedly constitute one of the most 
interesting groups of flowering plants, both botanically and 
commercially speaking. Their foliage, unlike that of the 
palms, or of their nearer allies, the cannas and bananas, 
is not particularly striking; their flowers, however, often 
curiously and grotesquely shaped, and ranging in color 
from the deepest purple to the purest white, are full of 
interest and’ early attracted attention to this rather unique 
assemblage of plants. 
The Collecting of Orchids. Tropical orchids are being 
extensively collected at the present time by various com- 
mercial establishments, especially the well-known cattleyas 
of South America and dendrobiums and cypripediums of 
the Indo-Malayan region. The first two mentioned endure 
the hardships of transportation much better than the last, 
owing to their contracted and thickened stems, in which 
quantities of food are stored. In their native haunts these 
storage bulbs supply the plants with nourishment during 
the dry season and doubtless serve in a similar capacity 
during the long journeys to temperate zone greenhouses. 
The accounts of stirring experiences of orchid collectors, 
or so-called “hunters,” occasionally appearing in popular 
magazines are largely without foundation. With the excep- 
tion of the possible contraction of malarial fever, there is 
little more danger involved in collecting orchids than in 
collecting native plants in the Ozark region of Missouri. 
_ After selecting a favorable point as headquarters in a region 
abounding in orchids, the collector proceeds to hire natives, 
pack-mules, camping outfit and other articles necessary for 
the final journey to the unmolested orchid haunts. If plants 
of Cattleya Trianaei are being sought, the collector ascends 
the Cordillera Mountains of Colombia to an elevation of 
about 6,000 feet. An essential part of his outfit, according to 
one of the foremost orchid “hunters,” is a thermometer;. 
when the instrument registers 62°F. in the shade, the region 
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