[2][3] In the early 1900s, he became internationally famous for his new discoveries and valuable contributions to orchidology by gathering, rediscovering, cultivating, preserving, documenting, and submitting-for-study a diverse assortment of hundreds of distinct specimens: yielding many new to science species.

[6] Powell's work remains relevant not only because his records document valuable scientific data, but they continue to provide material for study – many of his digitized herbarium specimens are freely available online via virtual herbaria.

In a letter to Minnie dated July 29, 1854, from Richmond, Ben Pullen writes about his son: Darling little Lesslie [as called in childhood; as spelled by father] I am so glad he is well and cries for his pa. Bless his pure little heart.

[...] Affectionately Ben K. PullenIn 1860, 6 year old Lesslie and his family moved, by train, 800 miles (1,300 km) southwest to Memphis, Tennessee, for the opening of his father's china store.

[17][18] By 1894, Pullen, his father, two brothers, a sister, and their families had moved 400 miles (640 km) south, settling in Houma and New Orleans, Louisiana.

His daughter Minnie would marry Texan Joseph Ross, a railroad superintendent, and spend time in Guatemala where their second son was born in 1913.

Early 1910 finds Powell working in a dispensary in [old] Gorgona (now submerged 80 feet below the surface of Gatun Lake) and fishing in Panama Bay.

"[10] The immense Gatun Lake, a part of the Panama Canal, was created when the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers dammed the Rio Chagres in the early 1900s.

Echoing this thought, Chinese artists sometimes placed orchids in their work to evoke the Confucian qualities of humility, integrity, refinement—in fact, all the virtues of a perfectly cultured gentleman and scholar.

"[29][30] "The ancient Greeks associated it with virility, and the Aztecs were said to drink a mixture of the vanilla orchid and chocolate to give them power and strength.

The Central American orchids, above all others in North or South America, are regarded as furnishing the climax [occupying the highest point] and should be called the 'aristocrat of the aristocrats.

"[10] In 1931, George T. Moore, director of the MBG wrote: "The perils and experiences of the early orchid hunters were as thrilling and romantic as those of any arctic explorer.

"In many instances, to dislodge the epiphyte [an "air plant", growing non-parasitically, sometimes 40–50 feet from the ground] without climbing the tree, it is necessary to cut a sapling with a forked-top as long as the distance up to where it clings.

In early 1918, realizing that many of his plants were not described in his books, he made contact with R. Allen Rolfe at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England.

In practice we find the most successful method is to press small specimens in a fold of blotting paper and enclose in an ordinary letter.

Specimens were dried by extracting moisture in a device called a plant press; however in one instance he noted: "Live flower mashed flat with finger.

[48] Tropicos (maintained by the MBG), The Swedish Museum of Natural History, and other repositories (to a lesser extent) provide additional sources for online viewing of herbarium specimens.

It took roughly 8 months for a portion (29) to be identified, communication slowed; Rolfe was in ill health and died before he had a chance to [fully] study Powell's collection.

Powell was persistent, he infused enthusiasm in his dealings, and he instilled in his fellow researchers the confidence that—he had something to offer in the confusing world of the Orchidaceae.

"Mr. Powell's enthusiasm for these plants has caused him to be locally termed 'the Orchid Man' ('Parasita Grande'), and his garden is one of the show places in Balboa to both the botanist and tourist.

"Orchids are surprisingly difficult to see in the wild; the majority being epiphytic, growing high in the canopy on trunks, branches or in crotches out of sight.

[63] The relationships between the orchid experts of the time were complicated; mutual respect, admiration, cooperation and financial support of each other were interwoven with intense competition, rivalry, and double-dealing.

[66][67] In 1922, Powell began relations with Harvard University's Oakes Ames, a botanist, and the most eminent American orchid authority at the time.

[3] Based on an orchid from Powell's garden, Blanche, recognized as an outstanding botanical illustrator, enriched one of her husband's specimens by painting this captivating watercolor.

Today, the Economic Herbarium of Oakes Ames at Harvard University has a searchable specimen database which includes many of Powell's original works.

Lankester, a British coffee grower, naturalist, and orchidologist, was living in Cartago, Costa Rica, a country with great potential for new to science orchid species.

"[21] After spending more than 10 years searching any possible habitat for orchids–from the lakes at sea level, to the hillsides, and up into the higher elevations of mountainous Panama–he was lionized as "The Canal Zone's exotic plant specialist."

The labor requirement for the construction of the Panama Canal provided him with a livelihood; and an outing on the newly created Gatun Lake awakened a desire to "catch" orchids instead of fish.

Charles Wesley Powell's donation was the manifestation of his calling to serve mankind by contributing to the greater common good: a permanent legacy of his work.

"Orchids are an ancient plant family that has evolved an amazing array of flower types, pollination mechanisms and complex interactions with animals and fungi.