£^l Jisph'ito Santo. 



El Espirito Santo. 



IN 1826, Henry Earnard, Esq., then residing in Truxillo, Peru, sent to Richard 

 Harrison, Esq., of Liverpool, England, the bulb of a remarkable eparasitical, 

 orchidacious plant, which he had found in the neighborhood of Panama, where it was 

 looked upon with much consideration, and known as El Espirito Santo — the Holy 



Spirit ; but which had never been seen in 

 the conservatories of Europe. The bulb 

 was properly cared for, and soon began to 

 put forth leaves, but leaves only, until I80I, 

 when it shot up its first flower stem, which 

 sprang from the base of the bulb, while its 

 leaves grew from the summit. 



It was not until the blossom appeared 

 that the significance of its local name 

 was apparent. When the flower had fully 

 opened, a most singular and beautiful ap- 

 pearance was presented. The fructifying 

 column in the center of the flower, with its 

 surmounting anther and the projecting 

 glands of pollen-masses were observed to 

 present a striking resemblance to a dove — 

 the emblem of the third person in the Holy 

 Trinity. Hence the name, El Espirito 

 Santo — the Holy Spirit — was reverentially 

 applied by the native residents, from the 

 same religious feeling which had prompted 

 the name of the " passion flower." 



The form of a dove assumed by the parts 

 of this flower, as described above, are re- 

 markably true to nature. The breast, the 

 Espirito Santo— Holy Spirit mower. extended wings, the head and beak, and 



even two purle dots for the eyes, are all distinctly shown, and almost as true to nature 

 as the art of man can depict them. 



Owing to the great heat required by this plant, and its peculiarly delicate construc- 

 tion, it has been found very difficult to cultivate it, artificially, away from its native 

 region, which is comprised within the central poi'tion of the torrid zone of the Western 

 Continent. 



Some two or three years since, as Mr. Shuman, the chief florist at Woodward's 

 Gardens was crossing the Isthmus of Panama, he took the opportunity to make a 

 collection of some of the most characteristic tropical plants obtainable in that 

 locality, and among others was a specimen of the Espirito Santo, which still occu- 

 pies the portion of the native wood upon which it was found — for it is a semi- 

 parasitical plant. Under the excellent care and management of Mr. Shuman, with 

 the very superior facilities furnished by Mr. Woodward, the proprietor of the gardens 



