218 



MY STUDIO NEIGHBORS 



as to present the plane of the stigma, before out 

 of sight, in such a new position as to invariably 



receive the pollen. 

 The tongue of a bee 

 entering this flower 

 conveys the pollen 

 directly against the 

 stigmatic surface (I), 

 which retains its dis- 

 entangled fecunda- 



A. Extended. B. Folded beneath the head. P 



ting grains, as at 



J, and the flower's functional adaptations are ful- 

 filled. 



In the allied Spiranthes, or " Lady's-Tresses," a 

 somewhat similar mechanism prevails, by which 

 fertilization is largely effected by the changed 

 position or angle of the stigma plane. 



And thus we might proceed through all the 

 orchid genera, each new device, though based upon 

 one of the foregoing plans, affording its new sur- 

 prise in its special modification in adaptation to 

 its insect sponsor all these various shapes, folds 

 of petals, positions, colors, the size, length, and 

 thickness of nectary, the relative positions of pol- 

 len and stigma, embodying an expression of wel- 

 come to the insect with which its life is so mar- 

 vellously linked. Occasionally this astounding 



