Volume 9 Number 4 



The Plant World 



91 ;fHa5a^inc of popular ^otanp 

 APRIL, 1906 



THE BLOOMING OF AN UNUSUAL ORCHID. 



By R. G. Leavitt. Ph.D., 

 The Ames Bofaiiica! Laboratory. Xorth Easfon. Mass. 



There has recentl\- bloomed in the greenhouse at North Easton 

 an orchid with a remarkable flower. The plant belongs to the 

 South American genus Masdci'alUa. a group of small orchids, of 

 which there are numerous species. The flowers are curious and 

 often oddly beautiful. The species illustrated in our drawing — 

 MasdevaUia iiniscosa. the " mossy " or " mosslike " MasdevaUia — 

 is found in Ecuador and Colombia, growing most frequently on 

 trunks and thick branches of trees in damp mountain forests (alti- 

 tude 6,ooo to 8,ooo ft. ), though sometimes on volcanic rocks and 

 walls of lava in the open sunshine. Frequent rains and heavy 

 nocturnal dews ofifer to its spongy roots copious drafts of water, 

 which are absorbed and stored in its thickened leaves. The golden 

 flowers are lifted singly on pale-green hairy stalks above the 

 tufted foliage. The floral structure may be easily understood 

 from the accompanying drawings. The three outer floral leaves, 

 recurved and produced into long tails, are united below into a 

 shallow, somewhat triangular, chalice. From the center of the 

 flower, but deflected toward one side of the cup, arises the col- 

 umn, — the distinctive character of an orchidaceous flower, — an 

 organ fashioned from the fusion of the stamens with the tips of 

 the carpels. The anther lies upon the end of the column, with its 

 waxy pollen in two compact masses. The receptive spot, or 

 stigma, is on the under side of the column, not far back of the 



75 



