Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 July 1895 — A Rare and Beautiful Flower. [ARTICLE]

A Rare and Beautiful Flower.

The Holy Ghost flower, or Flor del Espiritu Santo, is found in the region of the Isthmus of Panama. There it is not a common plant, as it is found only In certain sections . It seems to thrive only in low. marshy spots and springs up from decayed logs or from crevices in the rocks. The larger and older bulbs frequent-, ly send up the leaf stalks six or seven feet in height and from these, which are joined, broad lancoolated leaves are thrown out in pairs. The plant is an annual, and In June, July and August the flower stalks up from the base of the bulb, devoting all their energies to the formation of the buds. The buds are arranged on tho stalks much like those of the hyacinth, the usual number for a well grown stalk to bear being from twelve to fifteen. The leaves are very pale green In color, as though In harmony with the delicate purity of the blossom. The blossom is of alabaster whiteness, much like the old style English pulpit. This, of Itself, is strikingly curious, but it fades Into Insignificance when one looks into the center of that strange blossom, for there, nestling in its very heart, is the perfect image of a dove. It requires no Imagination to see it. No one could mistake it for anything else, for no human skill could fashion its shape more perfectly, no artist could adorn it with more delicate tints and no perfumer could endow it with a more delicate fragrance. RJght in the cup of the blossom, with the snow white canopy about it, rests this wonderful image, its delicately molded wings drooping, half extended at its side, its gold tinted head bent slightly forward and its tiny, crimson tipped bill touching its snowybreast. An observer who saw it in its native home says: “Just as the figure of the dove itself is there, beyond dispute, so does an expression pervade the image, an expression that even the most careless cannot fail to notice, the very Incarnation of humility and spiritual purity."