It is not
with Odontoglossums and Dendrobes as with roses--an intelligent man or
woman needs no long apprenticeship to master their treatment. Stove
orchids are not so readily dealt with; but then, persons who own a stove
usually keep a gardener. Coming from the hot lowlands of either
hemisphere, they show much greater variety than those of the temperate
and sub-tropic zones; there are more genera, though not so many species,
and more exceptions to every rule. These, therefore, are not to be
recommended to all householders. Not everyone indeed is anxious to grow
plants which need a minimum night heat of 60 deg. in winter, 70 deg. in summer,
and cannot dispense with fire the whole year round.
The hottest of all orchids probably is _Peristeria elata_, the famous
"Spirito Santo," flower of the Holy Ghost. The dullest soul who observes
that white dove rising with wings half spread, as in the very act of
taking flight, can understand the frenzy of the Spaniards when they came
upon it. Rumours of Peruvian magnificence had just reached them at
Panama--on the same day, perhaps--when this miraculous sign from heaven
encouraged them to advance. The empire of the Incas did not fall a prey
to that particular band of ruffians, nevertheless. _Peristeria elata_ is
so well known that I would not dwell upon it, but an odd little tale
rises to my mind. The great collector Roezl was travelling homeward, in
1868, by Panama.
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