138 MYSTERIES OF THE FLOWERS 



umn which has been aptly styled "the preacher in 

 the pulpit." At the foot of the column (not a pil- 

 lar of the church) a small opening gives access to 

 the spur below where nectar is concealed. 



On the column, just above the nectar-well, the ad- 

 hesive stigmatic sur- 

 face is found; and 

 above this again, two 

 curving pollen-pock- 

 ets. The pollen in 

 them consists of two 

 club - shaped masses, 

 terminating below in 

 round, adhesive discs; 

 and these discs appear 

 as two round dots 

 above the nectar-well, just where they will act as 

 buffers to the head of an arriving bee, though they 

 are slightly protected by an exceedingly thin and 

 fragile membrane that tears at a touch. 



The mechanism of this orchid, and its workings, 

 are already fairly clear. The bee arrives on the 

 white lip and, thrusting his tongue down the well 

 in search of nectar, rams his head against the two 

 adhesive discs, tearing their membranous covering, 

 and then cements upon his brow two pollen clubs 

 which he withdraws from their pockets, and which 



SHOWY ORCHID 



