TffE FLOWER. 



109 



which all the stamens except one are changed to petals, 



and the pistil even is petaloid. 



Fig. 152. — Orchis Morio; a, fl. separate. 



Tio. 16S.— A, Dove Orchis 

 (Peristeria elata). B, Swan Or- 

 chiB {C^onoches ventricosmn). 



237. Mimicries. In the Banana and 

 Orchis Orders we find all the deviations ; 

 giving rise to forms so varied and singu- 

 lar one might suppose Mother Nature 

 has a relish not only for the beautiful, 

 but also for the comic and grotesque. In 

 the Ginger division of the Banana Order 

 we find the Mantisia, so called from the 

 resemblance its one dilated anther bears 

 to the insect Mantis (familiarly called 

 Devil's-horse, and Preacher) ; the specific 

 name saltatoria (dancing) comes from 

 the resemblance the petals bear to a 

 ballet-dancer ; hence the common Eng- 

 lish name Dancing-Girls. The lovely 

 Butterfly - Lily [Hedychium) belongs 

 here also. 



338. The Orchids are still further illus- 

 trative of the deviations. Here the pistil 

 is reduced to a stigmatic surface ; the an- 

 thers are mere pollen-masses (Fig. 152) ; 

 the androecium and style are united into 

 a Column, called Gynostem {gynoste- 

 mium) ; the middle one of the three pet- ™'i'<'™)- 

 als is transformed into a lAp, called Labellum. The parts thus altered 



10 



Fig. 154. — Columbine. (^Aquilegia 



