298 The Romance of Wild Flowers 
whilst the third is different from them in size and 
shape, and known as the lip. It is usually larger, 
and is often continued back as a hollow spur, in 
which no honey is secreted, but whose inner walls 
are sucked by insects for the juice in their cells. 
This lip is, properly speaking, the uppermost petal, 
but by the twisting of the foot-stalk it becomes the 
lowest. There is only one perfect stamen, and this 
is so united with the style that the two combined 
form what is called the column. Careful examination 
may reveal the rudiments of two other stamens. At 
the top of the column is the two-celled anther 
containing two pear-shaped masses of pollen, known 
as pollinia, the individual grains of pollen being 
attached to each other by elastic threads, and the 
whole connected to a foot-stalk (caudicle) which ends 
below in a sticky gland. The ovary 
is three-sided, usually twisted, and 
¥{ the style often ends in a prominence 
}) (rostellum) at the foot of the anther, 
beneath which is a sticky surface 
formed by the union of the three 
stigmas. Owing to the difference 
between Orchids and other flowers, 
Early Purple rents this description may be a little 
difficult, but if compared with a 
common form like the Early Purple Orchis (Orchis 
mascula) or the Spotted Orchis (O. maculata) it will 
become lucid. | 
We have already seen that some plants in order to 
secure a successful flower-display “save up” their 
substance for a year and then put it all into flowers 
soon after their annual period of growth has com- 
