The Moccasin-Flower 



distinctive, and from the front view is very non- 

 committal. It is only as we see it in side section, 

 or from beneath, that we fully comprehend the 

 disposition of stigma and pollen. Upon the stalk 

 of this column there appear from the front three 

 lobes — two small ones at the sides, each of which 

 hides an anther attached to its under face — the large 

 terminal third lobe being, in truth, a barren rudi- 

 ment of a former stamen, and which now over- 

 arches the stigma. The relative position of these 

 parts may be seen in the under view. 



The anthers in this genus, then, are two, instead 

 of the previous single anther with its two pollen- 

 cells. The pollen is also quite different in its 

 character, being here in the form of a pasty mass, 

 whose entire exposed surface, as the anther opens, 

 is coated with a very viscid gluten. 



With the several figures illustrating the cross- 

 fertilization, the reader will readily anticipate any 

 description of the process, and only a brief com- 

 mentary will be required in my text. 



I have repeatedly examined the flowers of 

 C. acaitlc in their haunts, have observed groups 

 wherein every flower still retained its pollen, others 

 where one or both pollen masses had been with- 

 drawn, and in several instances associated with 



159 



