A FEW NATIVE ORCHIDS 175 



hope, we see the flower fade upon its stalk, and 

 with what one might verily believe to be evi- 

 dences of disconsolation, were it not that the 

 ultra -scientist objects to such a sentimental as- 

 sumption with regard to a flower, which is un- 

 fortunate enough to show no sign of nerves or 

 gray matter in its composition. Who shall claim 

 to know his orchid who knows not its insect 

 sponsor ? 



To take one of our own wild species. Here is 

 the Arethnsa bulbosa of Linnaeus, for instance. 

 Its pollen must reach its stigma — so he supposed 

 — in order for the flower to become fruitful. But 

 this is clearly impossible, as the pollen never 

 leaves its tightly closed box unless removed by 

 outside aid, which aid must also be required to 

 place it upon the stigma. This problem, which 

 confronted him in practically every orchid he met, 

 Linnaeus, nor none of his contemporaries, nor in- 

 deed his followers for many years, ever solved. 



Not until the time of Christian Conrad Spren- 

 gel (1735) did this and other similar riddles begin 

 to be cleared up, that distinguished observer hav- 

 ing been the first to discover in the honey-sip- 

 ping insect the key to the omnipresent mystery. 

 Many flowers, he discovered, were so constructed 

 pr so planned that their pollen could not reach 



