MALAXIDE^ 107 



rises up, greatly widening the space between the stigma and itself, leaving the former 

 quite free and open to insect visitors. Tliis has happened both in flowers from which 

 the pollinia have been removed and in others in which they are intact, but the viscid 

 material has set into a hard black ball. This seems to show that the stigma does not 

 become ripe for the reception of pollen for some time after the flower opens, and 

 until this occurs insects are fended off by the rostellum, wliich covers it like a roof 

 As soon as the pollinia have been removed, or the power of ejecting viscid matter 

 has ceased, the rostellum moves up out of the way, so that nothing may hinder 

 pollinia-bearing insects from coming into contact with the stigma. 



That insect visits are frequent is shown by the number of flowers from which the 

 pollinia are found to have been removed. Darwin records a spike of 41 flowers wliich 

 produced 27 large seed-capsules, besides some smaller ones. I found a last year's 

 spike with 36 developed capsules. In addition, several capsules were missing, pre- 

 sumably having failed to develop and dropped off. Propagation is unusually well 

 assured— cross-pollination by insects, self-fertiHsation if tliis fails to occur, and vege- 

 tative reproduction by adventive buds at the ends of the roots. 



Tribe II MALAXIDEiS Lindl. 



Pollinia compact, waxy, bi-partite, without caudicles. Pseudo-bulbs formed by a 

 swelling of the stem, except in Corallorhi^. 



KEY TO GENERA 



1. Pseudo-bulbs two, one above the other, distant. Lip directed upwards. Column 



very short, not winged. Pollinia four, flat, in pairs, face to face. Malaxis 



2. Pseudo-bulbs two, side by side. Lip curving upwards. Column long, slender, 



winged. Pollinia four, globose, in pairs, side by side. Liparis 



3. No pseudo-bulbs. Rhizome coralloid. Lip curving downwards. Pollinia four, 



sub-globose. Corallorhiza 



The immense antiquity of the Malaxideae, hke that of the Neottieas, is shown by 

 their vast geographical distribution, which extends to N. America. When we find 

 species on both sides of an impassable barrier like the Atlantic Ocean, and yet 

 identical, whether gathered in Europe or America, it should enable us to realise the 

 extreme antiquity of the species in question, which must date back to a period when 

 it was possible for the plant to spread from the eastern to the western hemisphere, 

 or vice versa. Incidentally it also shows the extraordinary permanence of the species 

 in question, which after separation for such untold ages still remain identical. 



14-2 



