II. 



ABOUT THE CHARACTER OP THE FLOWERS OF ORCHIDS 



LIST OF PEOPLE CONCERNED IN THE RAISING OF 

 ORCHID HYBRIDS REFERENCES AND ABBREVIATIONS 



MADE USE OF ORCHIDS RAISED FROM SEED OF 



THEIR OWN KIND. 



About the Character of the Flowers of 



Orchids. 



The parts of an orchid flower and their functions are 

 fairly well known to all those engaged and interested in 

 orchid hybridization, and as the floral diagram is to be 

 had in most of the books about orchids, I can dispense 

 with further explanation. But even if we know that 

 their structure in its origin conforms to lilies, if we do 

 understand how and for what purpose all those parts 

 have been transformed, does that explain the attraction 

 they exert over us? Does that lead us to the realization 

 of the very reasons for their fascination, so efficacious 

 and unresisting? Let us try to penetrate the ethical 

 expression of our orchid flowers, given to us in the en- 

 semble of their members, their outline and their color- 

 ing: their ideal character. 



What is it, this sudden, this potent difference which 

 in the judgment of the philosopher ranks higher even 

 the most humble, the most insignificant orchid than the 

 Eucharis, the lily? The element, the base, the constitu- 

 ent idea of an orchid is an entirely different one. It is 

 that of a life, of organization, of a being, of a face with 

 all its parts, its lines and expressions. What is a 



