16 



THE ORCHIDS OF NEW ENGLAND. 



occupied had they been developed. Not only do they stand 

 in this position but the column in some cases . . . has on 

 each side a prominent ridge, running from them to the bases 

 or mid-ribs of the two upper petals ; that is, in the proper 

 position of the filaments of these two stamens. It is impossi- 

 ble to doubt that the two membranes of the clinandrum in 

 Malaxis are formed by these two anthers in a rudimentary and 

 modified condition. Now, from the perfect clinandrum of 



Malaxis, through that of 

 Spiranthes, Goodyera, Epi- 

 pactis latifolia, and E. pa- 

 lustris, to the minute and 

 £ slightly flattened auricles 

 S^ in the genus Orchis, a 

 perfect gradation can be 

 traced. Hence I conclude 

 that these auricles are 

 doubly rudimentary ; that 

 is they are rudiments of 

 the membranous sides of 

 the clinandrum, these membranes themselves being rudiments 

 of the two anthers so often referred to. . . . Such vessels 

 may quite disappear. . . . The two upper anthers of the 

 inner whorl are fertile in Cypripedium, and in other cases are 

 generally represented either by membranous expansions or by 

 minute auricles. . . . These auricles, however, are some- 

 times quite absent, as in some species of Ophrys." * 



Summer, in her flight, invariably forgets to drop one flower 

 from her cornucopia at the proper time ; at least it seems so, 

 when we behold at this late day, in damp woods, a little plant 

 that brings the Pogonias to mind. It is the Nodding or Pendent 

 Pogonia (P. pcndald), and has still another name, Triplwra pen- 

 dula, none as musical as the rustic one, Three Birds. This Po- 



FlG. 36. 



1. Front view of flower of Yellow Fringed-Orchis. 



2. Side view (natural position). 



3. The anther with its auricle. 



4. A pollinium. 



5. Flower of Green Fringed-Orchis. {From Sweet.) 



* See, also, Sachs' Text Book of Botany, 1872, p. 603. 



