17G 



ORCHIDACE/E. 



[Endogens. 



the pollen masses are secured when any adhesion between them and th ^P™*^ 



nlace Hence such a plant would appear to be monandrous J it will be seen, However, 



n Gtaeemorts and Marants, the only other monandrous Orders of Endogens, that 



^nMe only one perfect stamen is developed, two others exist m a rudimentary state ; 



sc "ha rtie ternary number prevalent in Monocotyledons is not departed from So it is 



h Ore] Is -X colnmn does not consist of a single filament cohering with a style 



ut of ree'fi laments firmly grown together, the central of which is anthenferous, and 



he SSSSTrfi is proved by the frequent presence of callosities, or processes 



tne place of the sterile stamens ; by imperfectly-formed anthers occasionally appear- 



Se at fl e side of the perfect one ; and, if any further evidence were wan ted by moii- 



sters i vhk-hareguL structure is exchanged for the ordinary irregularity. Such 



I Hs nee in Orchis latifolia is described by Achille Richard, in the Memmres tie la 



tcSkt Nat of Paris, in which .be flowers were perfectly tnandrous, with no trace 



frirreSarityt aiiy part of the floral envelopes ; and other cases of a similar nature 



are by no means uncommon, and have been occasionally mentioned. 



Orchids are remarkable for the unusual figure of their irregular flowers, which 

 sometimes represent an insect, sometimes a helmet with the visor up, and are so 

 various in fonn that there is' scarcely a common reptile or insect to which some 

 1 2^4 



of them have not been likened. Their 

 flowers, however, will all be found 

 to consist of three outer pieces be- 

 longing to the calyx, and three inner 

 belonging to the corolla ; and all de- 

 parture from this number, six, depends 

 upon the cohesion of contiguous parts: 

 with the solitary exception of Mono- 

 meria, in which the lateral petals are en- 

 tirely abortive; of certain Bolbophylla, 

 such as B. bracteolatum, which have 

 an additional scale on the outside of 

 the petals; and of the calyculate genera, 

 such as Epistephium, in which the 

 external calyx above alluded to makes 

 its appearance in the form of an exter- 

 nal cup. Sometimes two of the sepals 

 cohere into one, as in certain species 

 of Oncidium, and then the calyx has 

 the appearance of consisting of but two 

 sepals • sometimes the lateral petals are connate with the column, as in Gongora and 

 and Lepanthes, and then the column appears furnished with two wings. In nearly the 

 whole Order the odd petal, called the lip, arises from the base of the column, and is 

 opposite it ; but in the Cape genus Pterygodium, the lip sometimes grows from the 

 apex of the column, and sometimes is stalked and turned completely over between the 

 fork of the inverted anther, and thus seems to belong to the back of the column. JNor 

 is the anther less subject to modification, although constant to its place : sometimes it 

 stands erect, the line of dehiscence of its lobes being turned towards the hp ; sometimes 

 it is turned upside down, so that its back regards the lip ; often it is prone upon the 

 apex of the column, where a niche is excavated for its reception. The pollen is not 



Tig. CXX. 1. Angracum eburneum; 2 Diuri- , 3. rtrymoda picta; 4. Oberonia Griffithiana ; 

 5. Caladenia ; 6. Disa spathulata. 



Fig. CXX. 



