ORCHID FAMILY 173 



more curious blossom. In this part the petals are 

 developed into a strange pouch-like labellum or lip 

 which gives the flower its chief display. In the 

 top of the labellum is an opening that leads to 

 the large cavity within, the opening being arranged 

 something like those rat-traps in which the rat 

 goes in through an opening in the top through 

 which he cannot return. 



The whole curious mechanism of the Lady's- 

 slipper blossom has to do with the visits of small 

 bees wdiich bring about the fertilization of the 

 tiny ovules through the pollen carried from other 

 flowers. The bee enters the opening in the lip and 

 finds itself in the large chamber from which it 

 can only escape through one of two small holes 

 at the upper end of the flower. To reach these 

 the bee walks upward, but before it escapes it 

 must rub its back against the stigma of the 

 blossom, in so doing covering it with any pollen 

 that was upon the bee's back, and then against the 

 anther which is covered with viscid pollen that is 

 smeared upon the back of the bee. Thus it goes 

 to the next flower laden with a new supply of 

 the fertilizing pollen. 



You may watch these Lady's-slippers many an 

 hour perhaps without seeing any of the bees at 

 work. But they come occasionally, and the flow- 

 ers wait patiently, often remaining in good con- 

 dition nearly a fortnight if no bee arrives. 



