ORCHIDS 129 



its insect friends, let us establish clearly in our 

 minds what is an orchid. 



Reviewing hastily what we have learned of plant 

 development, we recall that those plants which were 

 the first to produce flowers far back in prehistoric 

 times were either pollen-bearing or seed-bearing 

 plants: that is to say, dioecious. Later, plants and 

 trees put forth staminate and pistillate flowers, 

 side by side, and hence were monoecious. At length, 

 stamens and pistils approached one another and 

 were found within the corolla of perfect flowers. 

 Only one more move in the same direction was 

 possible: namely, that the stamens and pistils 

 should actually unite and form a single structure, 

 while retaining their separate functions. And this 

 is exactly what happened in the orchid. Here, 

 stamens and pistils are united into a body called 

 the "column." They are welded together, as it 

 were, and have lost all resemblance to the leaves or 

 petals from which some suppose they originally 

 sprang. So complete has been the union that often 

 the two organs are difficult to identify, the stamens 

 being transformed into mere pockets with slits, or 

 boxes with lids, and the stigmas merely adhesive 

 spots upon the column. 



We can see in these progressive stages the steps 

 of evolution leading to the highest type of flowers, 



