50 



DENDROBE. 



[CHAP. 



The upper belt consists of a number of stamens very 

 densely packed, the sessile anthers cohering in sets of two, 

 three, or more. Each stamen may be regarded as repre- 

 senting a single flower. Thus the structure of the flowers 

 of Colocasia is of the very simplest kind : — 



Calyx o : Corolla o ; 

 5, Stamen i ; Pistil o ; 

 9, Stamen o; Vi^X^S. syncarpous. 



2. Dendrobe {Dendrohium nobile^ or any allied species). 

 — At first sight neither stamen nor pistil is visible. The 

 flower apparently consists of six delicately coloured leaves, 

 of which five are nearly similar and broadly spreading, 



Fig. 35. Flower of Dendrobe {Dendrobium nobiU). 



and the sixth, dissimilar, projects forward from the centre 

 of the flower, with its sides curved in around the deep 

 crimson blotch of its centre. Observe that, of these six 

 flower-leaves, three are distinctly outside the rest, as you 

 cannot fail to note if the flower be viewed from behind. 



