INTRODUCTION. ; 



with perpetual sterility. It is often deeply channelled, or has 

 guiding ridges," .... often approaches the other divisions 

 "closely enough to render the flower tubular." It is properly 

 the upper petal, but a slight twist in the ovary or seed-vessel 

 has turned the flower upside down, a change enabling insects 

 to enter the flower more easily. 



" In most flowers, the stamens, or male organs, surround 

 in a ring the female organs, called the pistils. In all common 

 Orchids there is only one well-developed stamen, which is con- 

 fluent with the pistils and they form together the column. 

 Ordinary stamens consist of a filament or supporting thread 

 (not always seen in the Orchids) which carries the anther " and 

 this is " a sort of case filled with a waxy or meal-like powder, 

 called the pollen, which serves to fertilize the pistil." " The 

 anther is divided into two cells, which are very distinct in 

 most Orchids, and appear in some 

 species like two separate anthers." 

 " Orchids properly have three pistils 

 united together, the upper and anterior 

 surfaces of two of which form the two 

 stigmas. But the two are often com- 

 pletely confluent so as to appear as 



Fig. 2. — Section of the Flower 



one." The grains of pollen, when de- of an Orchid. (From Darwin.) 



., j ,i .. ,, .,, Pe, Pe, Petals ; Se, Se, Se, Sepals ; 



posited on the stigma, "emit long ,- ^ Stlgmas . ^ Stlgma ^ od ; 

 tubes," and these penetrating the sur- ^d into the rosteiium 



r ° A, Fertile anther of the outer 



face, " carry the contents of the grains whorl ■ A * A * anthers of the 



same whorl combined with the 



down tO the yOUng Seeds in the OVary," lower petal, forming the label- 



. . lum ; *„ a„, rudimentary an- 



WhlCh, When mature, IS "a I-Celled, thers of the inner whorl i fertile 



3-valved pod, with innumerable minute tJJfSLSrS 

 seeds appearing like fine sawdust." '*•'"> '«""' •>< «""« ">"">■ 



° when present, forming the 



"The upper stigma is modified into an front of the column, 

 extraordinary organ called the rostellum, which in many Or- 

 chids presents no resemblance to a true stigma. When mature, 

 it either includes or is altogether formed of viscid matter." 



