392 MR. H. N. RIDLEY ON SELF-FERTILIZATION 
such cases of cleistogamy would be found in orchid-houses, but 
that, as the flowers do not open, the plant would be looked upon 
as a failure and thrown away. 
DENDROBIUM CHRYSEUM, Rolfe. 
A very curious cleistogamous Dendrobium was shown me 
recently by Mr. Veitch, who had a number of plants, all similar. 
The stems were slender and dotted with purple at the base, the 
leaves narrow and numerous, the flowers solitary and somewhat 
pendulous on the ends of the stems, bright yellow ; but all were 
closed and did not seem inclined to open, and, indeed, have not 
as yet been seen to expand at all. The petals and sepals were 
quite normal; the lip somewhat resembled that of D. fimbriatum, 
but with a yellow patch in the centre instead of the dark maroon 
eye. The column had, besides the normal filament, two similar 
processes, one on either side, and the anther-cap, which was long 
and conical and obtuse, had the loculi somewhat distant, and 
between them was a ridge, which suggested a trace of three 
anthers combined in the anther-cap, the two lateral processes 
being the other two filaments. The pollen was a disorganized pale 
honey-like mass lying on the stigma even in the youngest flower 
I could examine. A longitudinal section of the column showed 
the pollen lying on the stigma, and emitting a large mass of 
pollen-tubes which had found their way far down the conducting- 
tissue of the stigma. The rostellum, if not absolutely absent, 
was reduced toa very small particle. The rostellar fibro-vascular 
bundle was present to its termination, but beyond that there was 
no distinct rostellum. The flower had ascent like that of hay, but 
I could not detect any trace of nectar at the base of the lip. 
The plant is evidently quite cleistogamous, and fertilizes itself 
by the slipping forward of the pollen from the clinandrium on to 
the unprotected stigma. 
This species has been named by Mr. Rolfe in the ‘ Gardener's 
Chronicle’ D. chryseum, and he gives a few notes about it, but 
does not mention its being so evidently cleistogamous. There is 
probably also another form which fully opens its flowers, as in the - 
case of D. Brymerianum ; but this form is not at present known. 
SPIRANTHES AUSTRALIS, Lindl. 
In his great work on the Orchids of Australia, Mr. Fitzgerald 
describes and figures this species, and mentions his surprise and 
interest in finding that, unlike S. autumnalis, Rich., this plant 
