i843— 186-I OPHRYS A v I » IIAN N'AKIA 



to connect abroad this species and the bee-orchis, ever there Letter 610 



occur? 



Some facts have led me to suspect that it might just be 

 pos il>!<-, though improbable in the highest d , that tin- 



bee [orchis] might be the self-fertilising form of O. arachnites, 

 which requires inse< ts' aid, something [in the same way] as 

 have self-fertilising flowers of the violet and others requii 

 insects. I know the case is widely different, as the bee is borne 

 on a separate plant and is incomparably commoner. This 

 would remove the great anomaly of the bee being a perpetual 

 self-fertiliser. Certain Malpighiaceae for years produce only 

 one of the two forms. What has .set my head going on this i- 

 receiving to-day a bee having one alone of the best marked 

 characters of 0. arachnites} Pray forgive me troubling you. 



To G. Bentham. Letter 61 1 



Down, June 22nd [1S62?]. 



Here is a piece of presumption ! I must think that you 

 are mistaken in ranking Hab\enarid\ chlorantha 2 as a variety 

 of //. bifolia ; the pollen-masses and stigma differ more than 

 in most of the best species of Orchis. When I fir>t examined 

 them I remember telling Hooker that moths would, I felt 

 sure, fertilise them in a different manner ; and I have just 

 had proof of this in a moth sent me with the pollinia (which 

 can be easily recognised) of //. chlorantha attached to its 

 proboscis, instead of to the sides of its face, as in //. bifolia. 



Forgive me scribbling this way ; but when a man gets 

 on his hobby-horse he always is run away witii. Anyhow, 

 nothing here requires any answer. 



To J. D. Hooker. 1 Uer 6l , 



Down, [Sept. 14th ; 1862]. 

 Your letter is a mine of wealth, but first I must scold you : 

 I cannot abide to hear you abuse yourself, even in joke, and 



1 ( ipJirys arachnites is probably more nearly allied to c '. aranifera than 

 to 0. apifera. For a case somewhat analogous to that suggested see the 

 description of 0. scolopax in Fertilisation of Orchids ; Ed. u.. p. 5-. 



1 In Hooker's Students' Flora, 1884, p. 395, //• chlorantha is given 

 as a subspecies of H. bifolia. Sir J. 1>. 1 looker adds that they are 

 "according to Darwin, distinct, and require different species oi moths to 

 fertilise them. Thej vary in the position and distances oi their anther- 

 cells, but intermediates occur." See i ertilisation of On ...•-. Ed, 11., p. "3- 



