182 



MY STUDIO NEIGHBORS 



_>7~ 



in one species of the maxillaria, as lias been care- 

 fully computed, 1,750,000. 



The pollen, unlike ordinary flowers, is gathered 

 together in waxy masses of varying consistency, 

 variously formed and disposed in the blossom, its 

 grains being connected with elastic cobwebby 

 threads, which occasionally permit the entire mass 

 to be stretched to four or five times its length, 

 and recover its original shape when released. 

 This is noticeable spe- 

 cially in the O. spcctabi- 

 lis, later described. The 

 grains thus united are 

 readily disentangled from 

 their mass when brought 

 into contact with a viscid 

 object, as, for instance, the 



r ig. 1 



stigma. 



But the most significant botanical contrast and 

 distinction is found in the union of the style and 

 stamens in one organ, called the column (Fig. 2), 

 the stigma and the pollen being thus disposed 

 upon a single common stalk. The contrast to 

 the ordinary flower will be readily appreciated 

 by comparison of the accompanying diagrams 

 (Fig. 1). 



When, therefore, we find a blossom with the 



