182 SYSTEMATIC BOTANY. 



to effect self-fertilization, but depend on insects for the 

 transport of the pollen from the anthers to the stigmas. 

 Vanilla is the pod-like fruit, five to ten inches long, of 

 Vanilla planifolia, an epiphytic plant, with thick, laurel- 

 like leaves; native of the West Indies and Tropical 

 America. When introduced into the East Indies it failed 

 to perfect fruit until artificial fertilization was resorted 

 to. From the tubers of Orchis mascula, and other species 

 of Europe and Asia, a starchy, mucilaginous, and highly 

 nutritious substance, " Salep," is obtained. The cultivated 

 genera are too numerous to mention. Single rare plants 

 sometimes command enormous prices— ^their weight in 

 gold. The largest private collections are now to be found 

 in France, Belgium, and England. In the United States 

 there are showy native representatives of Oypripedium, 

 Calopogon, Pogonia, Orchis, Habenaria, Epidendron, Coral- 

 lorhiza, etc. 



12. Bromeliaceae. The Pine-Apple family consists 

 of herbs, chiefly epiphytic, with persistent, often scurvy, 

 leaves; calyx three-parted; corolla three-parted, colored; 

 stamens six, perigynous ; style single; seeds numerous. The 

 species number about two hundred, and belong to Tropical 

 or sub-Tropical America. One genus, the Long Moss {Til- 

 landsia), is represented in the Southern United States. 

 The black, tough, elastic stem of this Long, Spanish, or 

 Black Moss {T. usneoides), hanging in long, dark, gray 

 tufts and festoons from trees in the Southern States, is 

 used, after removal of the bark by hammering, as hair in 

 upholstering. The Pine-Apple {Ananassa saliva'), now culti- 

 vated throughout the world, is supposed to be a native of 

 Brazil. The fleshy fruits are aggregated into solid, edible, 

 cone-like masses. 



