THE ORCHID FAMILY 111 



Banksii have large, hooded, greenish flowers. Dendrobium 

 Cunninghamii, with its many flowered racemes of pale rose 

 and white, is perhaps our most beautiful orchid, though the 

 sweet-scented Earina mucronata and E. suaveolens are hardly 

 less beautiful. The commonest one is Micro tis porrifolia, 

 which has a single, cylindrical, tubular, onion-like leaf, bearing 

 a flower-spike with numerous small green flowers. 



The family Orchidaceae is found in almost all parts of the 

 world, but reaches its highest development in tropical regions. 

 In the temperate zone, these plants are chiefly terrestrial, but 

 in tropical countries they are usually epiphytic. The Neottia 

 nidus-avis of the British woods, like our Gastrodia, is a brown, 

 leafless saprophyte, deriving its nourishment from the decay- 

 ing organic matter of the soil in which it grows. The finest 

 forms come from the Malay Archipelago, and from South 

 America. Collectors go to these districts to hunt for new and 

 rare plants, and often risk their lives for the sake of getting a 

 fresh variety. Though the New Zealand forms are none of 

 them large and showy, yet they are full of interest to the 

 flower-lover and the naturalist. 



STRUCTURE OF THE ORCHID FLOWER. 



Darwin has shown that the orchid is probably a much 

 modified, highly specialized lily. Both orchid and lily have 

 three outer, and three inner perianth leaves, though these are 

 probably not completely homologous, and in the case of the 

 orchid they are generally very irregular and varied in shape. 

 In the lily they are usually regular and similar. The stamens 

 are reduced in number, generally either one or two anthers 

 only being present. The filaments and style are fused 

 together to form the " column," in the centre of the flower. 

 The anthers are superior to the stigma, but are usually 

 separated from it by an intervening platform, termed the 

 rostellum, that assists in preventing self-pollination. The 



