INTRODUCTION. 
P 
ie 
Tue morphology and classification of orchids have been so fully treated of in 
modern botanical literature that it appears to me to be quite unnecessary to burden these 
pages with any general account of either. I propose, therefore, here to allude only to a 
few matters, one morphologic, the others taxonomic, in which views divergent from those 
commonly accepted are given effect to in the following pages. The first matter is the 
morphology of the stamens in the Ophrydeous genera Orchis, Habenaria, Hermi- 
nium, Diplomeris and Satyrium. According to the view of Robert Brown and Lindley, 
as well as of the latest writers Messrs. Darwin, Bentham and Hooker, Bolus, Rolfe, 
Pfitzer and Krantzlin, the stamen is single in these genera. A minute examination 
of the Sikkim species convinces me that this is not the case; and that, in the Sikkim 
species аб any rate, there are two stamens. This view is not, however, taken by 
Mr. Pantling, who is not satisfied with the proof of the hypothesis, and it is therefore 
published here on my own responsibility. According to the theory which holds the field, 
the orchidaceous flower consists of fifteen pieces, viz., three sepals, three petals (one of 
which is the lip), six anthers (in two alternating rows), and three stigmas; and, in all the 
sub-tribes except Cypripedieae only one of the six stamens is fertile. "The fertile anther 
is said to be the middle one of the outer whorl (7.e., the one opposite the odd sepal), the 
other two anthers of the outer whorl being represented by processes on the lip, and all the 
three of the inner.whorl being merged in the column. Опе of the stigmas is supposed to - 
be modified into the rostellum, and the other two to form the viscid stigmatic surface— 
a surface which, although usually simple, is in many cases bifid or quite divided into 
two segments. In the Cypripedieae, on the other hand, the fertile anthers are the 
lateral pair of the outer whorl, the odd one being converted into a large staminode, 
all the anthers of the inner whorl being infertile. The stigmas of Cypripedieae are 
all developed, but are confluent, none of them being modified into a rostellum. 
If, however, the anther-cells of the Sikkim Ophrydeae be carefully examined, it will 
be found that it is difficult to explain their structure on the monantherous theory. For, 
although in some species the anther-cells lie close together, in many they are widely 
separated, the pollinia being also produced into long caudicles contained in canals, 
© neither caudicles nor canals having any apparent attachment to a rostellum. Moreover, 
each of the fertile anther-cells bears on its outer surface a rugulose body which, in the 
descriptions in this and other works, is referred to as the staminode. Habenaria 
stenopetala, 17. geniculata, Н. pectinata, Н, malleifera, Н. arietina and Н. Dyeriana | 
are examples of species in which the fertile anther-cel's are separated by a broad expanse 
Ays. Вот. Bor. Gan., Сліссттл, Vor. ҮШ, 
