ii8 



THE STORY OF THE PLANTS. 



chids have got rid of all their stamens except one, 

 and even that one has united with the stigma. 



I will only describe the mode of fertilisation of 

 one of these plants, the common English spotted 

 orchis; but it will suffice to show you the extreme 

 ingenuity with which members of the family often 

 arrange their matrimonial alliances. The spotted 

 orchis has a long tube or spur at the base of its 

 sepals (Fig. 22, ;/), and this spur contains abun- 

 dant honey. The pollen-masses are neatly lodged 

 in two little sacks or pockets near the stigma, and 

 are so placed that their lower ends come against 

 the bee's head as he sucks the honey. These 

 lower ends (r) are gummy or viscid, and if you 

 press a straw or the point of a pencil against them, 

 the pollen-masses gum themselves to it naturally, 

 and come readily out of their sacks as you with- 

 draw the pencil (Fig. 23). In the same way, when 



t IG. 23. — Pollen-masses of an orchid, withdrawn on a pencil. In 

 I, they have just been removed. In II, they have dried and 

 moved forward. 



the bee presses them with his head, the pollen- 

 masses stick to it, and he carries them away with 

 him as he 'leaves the flower. Just at first, the 

 pollen-masses stand erect on his forehead ; but as 

 he flies through the air, they dry and contract, so 

 that they come to incline forward and outward. 



