With regard to the untwisting of the pedicel as the 
fruit matures, I am unable to speak with assurance be- 
cause I have not been sufficiently fortunate to have ob- 
served either Malawis paludosa or the Eurasian M. mon- 
ophyllos in the field. It would be hazardous to rely on 
the evidence furnished by herbarium specimens in at- 
tempting to decide this matter one way or the other. 
But it would be strange indeed if, regarding the untwist- 
ing of the capsule in Malaxis paludosa, Darwin made 
his statement gratuitously. 
In the American plants of MM. monophyllos var. 
brachypoda the pedicel of the flower is “‘straight’” before 
anthesis. In other words, in the incipient stages of devel- 
opment the labellum is adaxial. As the buds swell the 
pedicels undergo gradual torsion and the perianth finally 
becomes resupinate with the labellum adjacent to the 
subtending floral bract. There is hardly any torsion in 
the ovary, however, traces of spirality being confined to 
the basal tissues. The twist in the pedicels persists as the 
capsule matures and the persistence of the twist is indi- 
cated by the labellum being the lowermost member of 
the shriveled perianth even when the capsules are ripe. 
I have not observed any tendency toward untwisting in 
the American plants of M. monophyllos var. brachypoda 
that I have studied in which torsion appears to be an 
irreversible condition, as is the case with Corallorrhiza 
maculata and other species in which torsion is more or less 
confined to the pedicels. 
In Goodyera pubescens, untwisting of the ovaries is 
a conspicuous post-floral occurrence. Even before the 
last traces of white have faded from the withering sepals, 
the ovary will have untwisted 90 degrees or more and the 
labellum once again begins to incline toward the rachis 
of the raceme. 
Resupination is a purely physiological phenomenon 
[ 182 ] 
