ORCHIDS AND HYBRIDIZING, 243 
impossible, I hope, to misunderstand my descrip- 
tion. The pads are the male, the active organs. 
But the column does not finish here. It trends 
downward, behind and below the pads, and widens 
out, with an exquisitely graceful curve, into a disc 
one-quarter of an inch broad. This is the female, 
the receptive part; but here we see the peculiarity 
of orchid structure. For the upper surface of the 
disc is not susceptible; it is the under surface 
which must be impregnated, though the imagina- 
tion cannot conceive a mere accident which would 
throw those fertilizing pads upon their destined 
receptacle. They are loosely attached and adhesive, 
when separated, to a degree actually astonishing, 
as is the disc itself; but if it were possible to dis- 
place them by shaking, they could never fall where 
they ought. Some outside impulse is needed to 
bring the parts together. In their native home 
insects perform that service—sometimes. Here 
we may take the first implement at hand, a knife, 
a bit of stick, a pencil. We remove the pads, 
which yield at a touch, and cling to the object, 
We lay them one by one on the receptive disc, 
where they seem to melt into the surface—and the 
trick is done. Write out your label—“ Cy. 
Sandertanum x Cyp. Godefroye, Maynard.” Add 
the date, and leave Nature to her work. 
R 2 
