NEWS OF SPRING 



of the Coryanthes macrantha. Truly, we no longer know 

 with exactly what sort of being we here have to do. The 

 astounding Orchid has contrived this: its lower lip or 

 labellum forms a sort of large bucket, into which drops of al- 

 most pure water, secreted by two horns situated overhead, fall 

 continually; when this bucket is half full, the water flows 

 away on one side by a spout or gutter. All this hydraulic in- 

 stallation is very remarkable in itself; but here is where the 

 alarming, I might almost say the diabolical side of the com- 

 bination begins. The liquid which is secreted by the horns 

 and which accumulates in the satin basin is not nectar and is 

 in no way intended to attract the insects : it has a much more 

 delicate function in the really Machiavellian plan of this 

 strange flower. The artless insects are invited by the sugary 

 perfumes diffused by the fleshy excrescences of which I spoke 

 above to walk into the trap. These excrescences are above the 

 bucket, in a sort of chamber to which two lateral openings 

 give access. The big visiting bee — the flower, being enor- 

 mous, allures hardly any but the heaviest Hymenoptera, as 

 though the others experienced a certain shame at entering such 

 vast and sumptuous halls — the big bee begins to nibble the 

 savoury wattles. If she were alone, she would go away 



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