274 BOTANY [CHAP. X 



Letter 603 In R. Brown's admirable paper in the Linnean Transacts}- 

 he suggests (and Lindley cautiously agrees) that the flower of 

 orchids consists of five whorls, the inner whorl of the two 

 whorls of anthers being all rudimentary, and when the labellum 

 presents ridges, two or three of the anthers of both whorls [are] 

 combined with it. In the ovarium there are six bundles of 



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^ /,:.,.. C-- i 



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Fig. 8. FLORAL DIAGRAM OF AN ORCHID. 

 The " missing bundle " could not be found in some species. 



vessels : R. Brown judged by transverse sections. It occurred 

 to me, after what you said, to trace the vessels longitudinally, 

 and I have succeeded well. Look at my diagram [fig. 8] 

 (which please return, for I am transported with admiration at 

 it), which shows the vessels which I have traced, one bundle 

 to each of fifteen theoretical organs, and no more. You 

 will see the result is nothing new, but it seems to confirm 



1 Vol. XVI., p. 685. 



