CHAPTER XVII. 



HYBRIDIZATION OF ORCHIDS. 



AS we have before remarked, very few Orchids have 

 the power of self-fertilization. This operation is 

 generally performed by insect agency, and as in our Or- 

 chid houses insects are seldom found, so we seldom find 

 Orchids producing seed. The plants that with us have 

 most frequently seeded are Epidendrum phce?iicium and 

 aurantiacum, Cattleya Moss ice, Cypripedium barbatum, and 

 Dendrobiicm chrysanthum ; of these probably the Dendro- 

 bium was the only one which was self-fertilized. To effect 

 fertilization, therefore, artificial means must be resorted to, 

 and any mode of bringing the pollen masses into connec- 

 tion with the stigma will accomplish the result. 



An explanation of terms may be appropriate in this 

 connection. 



In all common Orchids the stamen is confluent with 

 the pistil, the two forming the column ; the stamens carry 

 the anther, and within the anther is the pollen. The an- 

 ther is divided into two cells, generally very distinct. 



In Orchido the pollen is not, as in other plants, a fine 

 powder, but the pollen grains adhere in masses. 



There are usually in Orchids three united pistils or 

 female organs of which the upper part has its anterior 

 surface viscid, which forms the stigma. The two lower 

 stigmas often are confluent so as to appear as one ; the 

 stigma of the upper pistil in many Orchids presents no 



