142 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 
were imperfect as was the knowledge of the natural habits 
of the plants. Epiphytic orchids, for instance, were treated 
in the same manner as terrestrial ones, all being planted in 
ordinary soil. Furthermore, the resting and growing periods 
_ of these plants were not appreciated. One of the first tropical 
orchids established under cultivation was the vanilla, an 
account of which was published in Miller’s Dictionary of 
Gardening, in 1768. This relatively early success is doubt- 
less due to the fact that the vanilla plant thrives in ordinary 
soil, provided ample heat and moisture are supplied. In 
1778 Phaius grandifolius, a tertestrial orchid commonly 
called the nun orchid, was introduced from China. In 1794, 
Kew Botanic Gardens recorded fifteen species of epiphytic 
orchids, grown in “very great heat with fragments of half 
rotten bark at their roots.” The favorite growing medium 
at the present period is osmunda fibre and sphagnum moss. 
The former, composed of the underground stems and roots 
of the osmunda fern, is extensively collected in the eastern 
states, whence it is shipped to Europe in large quantities. 
The first introduction of the well-known genus Cattleya 
was C. labiata, a specimen of which was sent to Mr. William 
Cattley, in honor of whom Dr. Lindley named the genus, of 
Barnet, England, about 1818. From this period on the 
introduction and commercial growing of orchids has pro- 
gressed rapidly until at the present time both industries 
have assumed considerable proportions. 
Mimicry. The resemblances of orchid flowers to members 
of the animal world, are, in some cases, rather remarkable. 
The dove orchid, or “Holy Ghost orchid” (Peristeria elata), 
a native of Panama, was named by the early Spanish settlers 
“El Espiritu Santa,” meaning Holy Ghost orchid. The pure 
white flower with its column and beaked anther, combined 
with the ascending side lobes, representing the wings, strik- 
ingly resembles a dove. Oncidiwm Papilio, a native of South 
America, is easily recognized as the butterfly orchid, the 
antennae being represented by the thread-like sepals, whereas . 
the wings find their counterpart in the large petals, includ- 
ing the labellum. The reddish-brown and yellow mottling 
of the corolla, adds to the resemblance. _The moth orchid © 
(Phalaenopsis amabilis), indigenous to the Philippine region, 
suggests a large flying white moth. Another unique form 
is the cradle orchid (Anguloa Clowesii), at home in the 
South American Andes. The sepals and petals of its flowers 
are connected, forming a cradle in which the lip or third 
petal, attached by a hinge-like appendage, rocks backwards 
and forwards when touched. The spider orchid (Brassia 
