culture

National flower featured at Herrera’s Expo Feria

Vielka Corro Ríos/LA PRENSA

wings of a dove: The Flor del Espíritu Santo, Panama’s national flower and a protected species, gives its name to this year’s festival.1080193

Growing orchids is a labor of love and patience. And depending on the variety, it can also be a costly hobby. But for many orchid enthusiasts, such as Noemí de Ramírez, a member of the Asociación de Orquideología de Las Minas, in the province of Herrera, the pleasure and pride of watching one blossom is worth every bit of pampering.

The best time to view the orchids in their exquisite prime of blossom is from July to October and, though she may be prejudiced, Ramírez boasted of the spectacle of the flower show in Las Minas, where exhibiting the choicest orchids for visitors during the final days of August has become a tradition.

Among the tropical beauties on display include the Oreja de mula, La Semana Santa, La Mosca, Labio de Mujer, and, the belle of the ball, Panama’s national flower, La Flor del Espíritu Santo, or the “Holy Spirit Flower,” an almost supernaturally delicate orchid with circular petals.

So lovely is the national flower, in fact, that the exhibition in Las Minas has been named in its honor this year.

Evidelia de Marciaga, vice president of the Expo Feria committee, explained that the national flower is a native of Las Minas, where it grows wild in protected areas.

Marciaga pointed out that botanists have identified 12 varieties of the flower, and though some plants have adapted to regions of cooler climates, it is rare to find the plant growing in the Las Minas area. Instead, to guarantee the flower’s presence at the Feria, the Flor del Espíritu Santo is often cultivated in vitro under controlled conditions that include organic fertilizers and much coddling.

Eduardo Franco, the mayor of Las Minas and orchid fan, confirmed that the law protecting the flower, enacted in 2003, remains in force. He and other members of the Associación de Orquideología hope that the Feria helps to increase public awareness of the flower’s endangered status.

Ramírez noted that the Flor del Espíritu Santo is not the country’s only native orchid that needs greater protection from habitat destruction and poachers, but acknowledged that the task is difficult because of the flower’s value among collectors.

The Expo Feria Flor del Espíritu Santo will run from August 29-31.