114 PLANTS OF NEW ZEALAND 



and is itself hollowed out into a sort of chamber with two 

 lateral entrances ; within this chamber there are cm'ious fleshy 

 ridges." The most ingenious man, if he had not witnessed 

 what takes place, could never have imagined what purpose all 

 these parts serve. But Dr. Criiger saw crowds of huge 

 humble bees visiting the gigantic flowers of this orchid, not in 

 order to suck nectar, but to gnaw off the ridges within the 

 chamber above the bucket ; in doing this they frequently 

 pushed each other into the buckets, and their wings being thus 

 wetted, they could not fiy away, but were compelled to crawl 

 out by the passage forming the spout or overflow. Dr. Crtiger 

 saw ' a continual procession ' of bees, thus crawling out of 

 their involuntary bath. The passage is narrow, and is roofed 

 over by the column, so that a bee, in forcing its way out, 

 first rubs its back against the viscid stigma, and then against 

 the viscid glands of the pollen masses. The pollen masses 

 are thus glued to the back of the bee which first happens 

 to crawl out through the passage of a lately expanded flower, 



and are thus carried away AVhen the bee 



thus provided flies to another flower, or to the same flower a 

 second time, and is pushed by its comrades into the bucket 

 and then crawls out by the passage, the pollen mass necessarily 

 comes first into contact with the viscid stigma, and adheres to 

 it, and the flower is fertihzed. Now at last we see the full use 

 of every part of the flower ; of the water secreting horns, and 

 of the bucket half full of water, which prevents the bees from 

 flying away, and forces them to crawl out through the spout 

 and rub against the properly placed viscid pollen masses and 

 stigma." 



In Catasetum, an allied orchid, the method of cross-polHnation 

 is simpler, but none the less remarkable and effective. The bees 

 come to gnaw the ridges of the labellum, and in so doing must 

 touch a long sensitive " antenna." This apparently transmits 

 a sensation to another part of the flower, — a spring is set free. 



