128 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 
their native home in the Andes, cannot be expected to adjust 
themselves to city life. Although the plants have been in 
this country for only twelve months, the deposit of soot upon 
the leaves is such as to enable one with a moist finger to write 
upon the upper surface of the leaves. 
The flowering orchids are staged in the floral display house 
in both a natural and artificial arrangement. The natural 
arrangement suggests their epiphytic habit as seen growing 
upon trees in the tropics. Most of the plants, however, are 
placed upon tiers of stages for mass effect. The original 
arrangement of the show included a double stage through the 
middle of the house, with two four-foot walks on each side, 
but this left too little space for the accommodation of the 
Sunday crowds. By 2:30 o’clock on the opening Sunday the 
house was filled to capacity, and an hour later the line of 
visitors extended back to the palm house, necessitating their 
waiting at least fifteen minutes in the cold before viewing the 
show. Consequently, the exhibit was entirely rearranged the 
following day, the middle staging being removed and the 
plants banked on the north, east, and west sides, the center 
of the house being left free for the accommodation of large 
crowds. 
Of the five thousand plants imported from Colombia over 
one thousand were in bloom for the opening Sunday. Most 
of the remaining plants are in bud in the growing houses 
awaiting their removal to the floral display house when in 
full bloom. Because of the large number of plants in reserve 
it will be possible to prolong the show until February. Of 
the cattleyas the two main varieties shown are the Tulipan 
(Cattleya Trianae), which flowers first, and the Flora de 
Mayo (Cattleya Schroederae). In collecting these varieties 
the hoped-for prize is a pure white variety. There is no way 
of distinguishing this variety except by the flowers, and since 
most of the plants were collected when void of flowers the 
finding of an albino is purely a matter of chance. It was 
consequently very gratifying to find two plants bearing albino 
flowers in the first thousand to bloom. Among the typical 
mauve-colored flowers there is the greatest variation, ranging 
from the lightest pallida to the darkest purple forms. 
