198 



THE BOOK OF NATURE STUDY 



short, and the lobes of the stigma closed together. By the time the 

 five inner stamens are shedding their pollen the style has lengthened 

 and the stigmatic lobes are expanded at a somewhat higher level 

 than the anthers. The flower has thus an earlier stage in which 

 pollen is being shed, but fertilisation is impossible, and a later stage 

 in which it is capable both of giving and receiving pollen. Even 

 in this stage, cross-pollination is, however, 

 more likely to occur than self-pollination, 

 owing to the position of the stigmas above 

 the anthers. 



The fruit is of interest on account of the 

 way in which the seeds are scattered to a 

 distance from the plant. After pollination 

 the ovary with its five lobes enlarges, and the 

 lower portion of the style also increases in 

 length, and thickens. At the upper end it 

 bears the remainder of the style and the 

 withered stigma. The base of the fruit is 

 surrounded by the sepals, but the stamens and 

 petals have fallen off. The fruit is dry when 



< J 



ripe, and opens by the five outer portions 

 of the carpels separating from below upwards from a central 

 column (Fig. 91), and forcibly scattering the seed to some little 

 distance. In the Herb-Robert the seed, when detached, is 

 enclosed by the lower part of the wall of the ovary, while 

 in some other species of Geranium the seeds are ejected 

 separately, and the wall of the fruit remains attached to the 

 central column. 



FIG. 91. Fruit of the 

 Herb-Robert, open- 



j n / f to 2 e * th< r seed 



(After Baillon.) 



THE SPOTTED ORCHIS (Orchis maculata, L.). 



The Early Spotted Orchis is one of the commonest of our British 

 Orchids, and can be found in flower, often in large numbers, in 

 damp grassy spots and on heaths and moors, in May and June. 

 Its study will serve admirably as an introduction to the wonderful 

 adaptations which the Orchids show both in their vegetative 

 organs and their flowers. It must be remembered, however, that 

 these adaptations are very various, and require special study in 



