ORCHIDACE.A. 383 
A flower of Cattleya violacea afforded a similar illustration; but in 
this case only one of the inner stamens was developed, and this in the 
form of a small petal, partly adherent to the column. 
In Dendrobium normale, Falconer, not only is the perianth regular, 
but the column is triandrous,' the three stamens (according to the 
diagram of its structure given by Lindley) pertaining to the outer row. 
In a specimen of Dendrobium hemoglosswm kindly forwarded from 
Ceylon by Mr. Thwaites there were three stamens present, of which 
one posterior belonged to the outer series A 1, and two lateral to the 
inner a1, a 2, fig. 192. 
M. His observed, several years in succession, some flowers of a species 
of Ophrys with three sepals, no lateral petals, one lip, and three perfect 
stamens. In this case probably the two supernumerary stamens were 
petals which had assumed an anther-like character. 
Wydler describes a flower of Ophrys aranifera in which one outer and 
two inner stamens were present.” I have myself met with three such 
flowers in the same species. The stamens present were A 1, w 1, a 2. 
Dr. J. E. Gray exhibited at the Botanical Society of London, in 
August, 1843, a specimen of Ophrys apifera with a triandrous column, 
the supernumerary anthers belonging, apparently, to the inner whorl. 
In his ‘ Catalogue of the Plants of South Kent,’ p. 56, tab. iv, f. 16, 
the Rev. G. E. Smith describes and figures a flower of O. aranifera with 
a triandrous column, seemingly of the same kind as that spoken of by 
Dr. Gray. 
Mr. Moggridge met with a triandrous flower in the same species, and 
refers the appearance to “a fusion of two flowers, accompanied by 
suppression and modification.”? As, however, no details are given in 
support of this opinion, it may be conjectured that the two additional 
stamens were members of the inner whorl a 1, a 2, and thus the confor- 
mation would be the same as in the flowers just mentioned. The figures 
given by Mr. Moggridge bear out this latter view, while they lend no 
support to the hypothesis advanced by him. Nevertheless, no decided 
opinion can be pronounced by those who have not had the opportunity 
of examining the flowers in question. 
Alphonse de Candolle* figures a flower of Mavillavia in exactly the 
same condition, so far as the stamens are concerned, as in the Ophrys 
flowers just mentioned. It is curious to observe that in many of these 
cases the two lateral petals are suppressed. 
Von Martius mentions the occurrence of three anthers (natwraliter 

1 Lindl., “ Orchid. Ind.,” ‘ Jour. Linn. Soc.,’ iii, p. 9. 
2 « Arch. Bot.,’ ii, p. 300, tab. xvi, f. 11. 
° *Seemann’s Journal of Botany,’ v, p. 318, tab. Ixxii, figs. A 4, 4a. 
4 “ Monstr. Veg.,” in ‘ Neue Denkschrift,’ p. 17, tab. vii. 
