ORCHID FAMILY 



Flowers. — Solitary, pale yellow, large, showy, at the 

 top of a leafy stem. 



Sepals. — Three, two united, greenish or yellowish, 

 striped with purple or dull red, very long, narrow. 



Petals. — Two, brown, narrow, twisting; the third, the 

 lip, an inflated sac, pale yellow streaked with purple 

 lines, one to two inches long, white hairs within. 



Stamens. — United with the style into an unsymmet- 

 rical declined column bearing an anther on either side, 

 and a dilated, triangular, petal-like, sterile stamen above, 

 arching over the broad concave stigma. 



Polhnated by bees. Nectar-bearing. 



"There's a belted bee in the orchid's cup, 

 He's taking his tithes from his tenantry; 

 And never a care in the world knows he, 

 Wise bee ! 



"But the golden dust of the stamen's store 

 Is left at each orchid's open door; 

 A part of the flower's plan is he 

 As he takes tithes of his tenantry." 



This is the earliest Lady's-Slipper where Cypri- 

 pcdium acaiile does not grow. The beautiful yellow 

 blossoms swing with an outward poise at the top of a 

 leafy stem, solitary but sufficient. The interior of the 

 pouch secretes nectar; the opening is to admit the bee, 

 and the inflected edge forces it to '^^awl out near one 

 of the anthers, where it meets the glutinous pollen. 

 Entering another pouch, it leaves some of the pollen 

 on the stigma as it escapes. The blossom is an enticing 

 trap for bees small enough to enter and vigorous 

 enough to escape. The lure and the trap and the w^ay 

 of escape are all prearranged — and the result is cross- 

 fertilization, the production of innumerable seeds, and 



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