110 PLANTS OF NEW ZEALAND 



Its Fantastic Flower Forms. 



11 There is no order of plants," says Dr. Findlay, in his 

 paper on Orchidaceae in the " English Cyclopaedia," " the 

 structure of whose flowers is so anomalous as regards the 

 relation borne to each other by the parts of reproduction, or 

 so singular in respect to the form of the floral envelope. By 

 an excessive development and singular conformation of one of 

 the petals called the labellum or lip, and by irregularities, 

 either of form, size, or direction of the other sepals and petals, 

 by the peculiar adhesion of these parts to each other, and by 

 an occasional suppression of a portion of them, flowers are 

 produced so grotesque in form that it is no longer with 

 the vegetable kingdom that they can compare, but their 

 resemblance must be sought in the animal world." This is 

 no fanciful, far-fetched resemblance, as might be imagined by 

 those who have no large acquaintance with these strange 

 flowers. Anyone, observing for the first time the Bee Orchis 

 (Grphrys apifera) of the English downs, would find it hard to 

 believe that he did not see before him the real insect, so 

 exactly does the flower reproduce the brownish- velvety body, 

 streaked with gold bands, and the pollen-covered legs. The 

 Fly, the Lizard, and the Monkey Orchis are likewise natives 

 of Great Britain. 



In tropical countries the flowers of orchids, or parts of them, 

 show many curious resemblances to various animals. Grass- 

 hoppers', mosquitoes, dragon-flies, butterflies, swans, pelicans, 

 the skin of the tiger and of the leopard, the eyes and teeth of 

 the lynx, the face of the bull, the grin of the monkey, the head 

 of the serpent, the tail of the rattlesnake, frogs, lizards, even the 

 head of the extinct Dinotherium, are all mimicked by them. 



The New Zealand species are not so curious in this respect 

 as those of most countries, though the little Silverback 

 (Corysanthes macrantha), with its lurid purple flowers, and 

 long antennae, has somewhat the appearance of a purple 

 beetle or cockroach (Fig. 35). Pterostylis graminea and P. 



