240 PLANT FAMILIES: MONOCOTYLEDONS. 



But after the flower perishes, the bulb, deep in the soil, slowly 

 builds the next season's flower, which is kept through the 

 autumn and winter, much of the time encased in ice, waiting 

 for springtime that it may rise and unfold. 



Order Gynandr^:. 



391. The orchid family (orchidaceae). — Among the orchids 

 are found the most striking departures from the arrangement of 



the flower found in the 

 simpler monocotyle- 

 dons. An example of 

 this is seen in the lady- 

 slipper (cypripedium, 

 shown in fig. 208). The 

 ovary appears to be 

 below the calyx and 

 corolla. This is brought 

 about by the adhesion 

 of the lower part of the 

 Fig. 206. calyx to the wall of the 



Flower of an orchid (epipactis), the inferior ovary nV o rv Thp nvarv tripn 

 twisted as in all orchids so as to bring the upper part of uv<u / • x " e O v <>*y Men 

 the flower below. j g in f erior ^ while the 



calyx and corolla are epigynous. The stamens • are united 

 with the style by adhesion, two lateral perfect ones and one 

 upper imperfect one. The stamens are thus gynandrous. 

 The sepals and petals are each three in number. One of the 

 petals, the "slipper," is large, nearly horizontal, and forms 

 the " lip " or " labellum " of the orchid flower. The labellum 

 is the platform or landing place for the insect in cross-pollina- 

 tion. Above the labellum stands one of the sepals more showy 

 than the others, the " banner. " The two lateral " strings " of 

 the slipper are the two other petals. The stamens are still 

 more reduced in some other genera, while in several tropical 

 orchids three normal stamens are present. 



There are thus four striking modifications of the orchid 



