, _Mendellii_, and so forth--have white varieties; but an
example absolutely pure is so uncommon that it fetches a long price.
Loveliest of these is _C. Skinneri alba_. For generations, if not for
ages, the people of Costa Rica have been gathering every morsel they can
find, and planting it upon the roofs of their mud-built churches. Roezl
and the early collectors had a "good time," buying these semi-sacred
flowers from the priests, bribing the parishioners to steal them, or,
when occasion served, playing the thief themselves. But the game is
nearly up. Seldom now can a piece of _Cat. Skinneri alba_ be obtained by
honest means, and when a collector arrives guards are set upon the
churches that still keep their decoration. No plant has ever been found
in the forest, we understand.

It is just the same case with _Loelia anceps alba_. The genus Loelia
is distinguished from Cattleya by a peculiarity to be remarked only in
dissection; its pollen masses are eight as against four. To my taste,
however, the species are more charming on the whole. There is _L.
purpurata_. Casual observers always find it hard to grasp the fact that
orchids are weeds in their native homes, just like foxgloves and
dandelions with us. In this instance, as I have noted, they flatly
refuse to believe, and certainly "upon the face of it" their incredulity
is reasonable.

_Loelia purpurata_ falls under the head of hot orchids. _L. anceps_,
however, is not so exacting; many people grow it in the cool house when
they can expose it there to the full blaze of sunshine. In its commonest
form it is divinely beautiful. I have seen a plant in Mr. Eastey's
collection with twenty-three spikes, the flowers all open at once. Such
a spectacle is not to be described in prose. But when the enthusiast has
rashly said that earth contains no more ethereal loveliness, let him
behold _L. a. alba_, the white variety. The dullest man I ever knew, who
had a commonplace for all occasions, found no word in presence of that
marvel. Even the half-castes of Mexico who have no soul, apparently, for
things above horseflesh and cockfights, and love-making, reverence this
saintly bloom. The Indians adore it. Like their brethren to the south,
who have tenderly removed every plant of _Cattleya Skinneri alba_ for
generations unknown, to set upon their churches, they collect this
supreme effort of Nature and replant it round their huts. So thoroughly
has the work been done in either case