150 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 
By the early Spanish settlers this plant was held sacred, 
much as was the lotus lily by the Egyptians, and was named 
by them “El Espiritu Santo,” or Holy Ghost orchid. 
The flower spikes attain a height of from three to six feet 
and bear a waxy, globose, and extremely fragrant flower 
about two inches in diameter. The sepals and petals are pure 
white, shielding the column. The latter with the anther cap, 
or cliandrium, forms the neck and head of the dove, while 
the rostellum, or abortive pistil, represents the beak. The 
wings are formed by the side lobes of the labellum, or large 
lower petal. The flower spike is produced from the base of 
the large ovate pseudo-bulbs, the latter being among the 
largest found in the orchids, varying in size from three to 
el ht inches in length and three to four inches in width. 
The leaves, of which there are four or five to each bulb, are 
from two to three feet long and are prominently nerved or 
veined beneath. Instead of growing in the air, as do so 
many of this group, the Holy Ghost orchid has a terrestrial 
habit, and in the greenhouse is planted in a mixture of sod 
soil with peat and moss. Luxuriant growth is favored by 
keeping the plant in as nearly a saturated atmosphere as 
possible, whereas the reverse treatment is necessary to induce 
the plants to produce flowers. The plant which is on exhibi- 
tion in the orchid house was forced to produce a flower spike 
by giving it a long rest in the cactus house, where the condi- 
tions are desert-like. After the flower spike appeared, the 
plant was returned to its former moist position, where the 
atmospheric conditions were more tnsskis for the further 
ent fee of the flowers. The effect of this treatment is 
well illustrated in the two specimens now being shown in the 
greenhouse. The one which was subjected to the dry rest- 
ing period has produced a fine flower spike, while the other, 
which was constantly kept under moist conditions, has pro- 
duced new pseudo-bulb growth but no flowers. 
In addition to the dove orchid, the following forms are 
at present in flower in the orchid house: Angraecum Lich- 
leranum, Brassavola nodosa, B. venosa; Bulbophyllum 
Careyanum; Calanthe Veitchii; Cattleya Luddemanniana, 
C. Trianaei; Cymbidium sinense; Cypripedium acis, C. 
Adonis, C. Arthurianum, C. barbatum Crossii, C. callosum, C. 
calypso, C. Colmanii nigrum, C. Crossianum, OC. Engel- 
hardtae, C. Harrisianwm var. tenue and luteum, C. “Hero”, 
C. insigne var. “Dorothy,” “Harefield Hall,” and Sanderae, 
C. Leeanum, C. Macfarlanianum, C. pavonianum, C. Pitch- 
erianum, C. Pollettianum, C. “Pres. McKinley,” C. Spicer- 
tanum, C. tityus, C. Troilus, C. venustum; Dendrobium 
bigibbum, D. formoswm giganteum, D. Phalaenopsis 
