LIFE HISTORIES OF FAMILIAR PLANTS 



results of its one stamen are so sure that it is of 

 more value than the six of its remote ancestors. 



In Fig. Sy (Plate 6i) is shown a further 

 magnified view of the little pollen masses. Each 

 tiny flake of which they are seen to be built is 

 composed of numerous grains, corresponding to the 

 pollen dust so familiar in lilies and other flowers, 

 held together by sticky threads. When the clubs 

 touch the stigma some of these flakes adhere to it, 

 for the viscid secretion of the stigma possesses a 

 greater pull than that of the threads of the pollen 

 masses. A pair of clubs, therefore, may fertilise 

 the stigmas of several flowers. 



Surely, then, this wild orchis that revels in my 

 roadside plot has attained a most complex develop- 

 ment. Each modification of its original structure 

 that has served its species in good stead through- 

 out the ages of its evolution has been faithfully 

 preserved until we find now this complex ag- 

 gregate of their merits. The obvious adaptation 

 of the floral structure, and the ingenious method 

 adopted for the removal of the pollen masses and 

 for their safe and sure conveyance to a neighbour- 

 ing flower are striking features indeed, but it is 

 the minute details, the insignificant nothings, as 

 it were, of the scheme that are perhaps most 

 striking. 



For instance, several observers discovered that 

 afl:er all this complex arrangement of a landing- 

 stage, honey guides, and a spur for the nectary, no 

 nectar or honey was secreted by flowers of this 

 genus, a most contradictory state of affairs, for it 



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