126 OUR NATIVE ORCHIDS 



threads. They are all of about equal length, but stand ofF 

 from each other with such strong curves that the flowers, 

 according to one author, "have a combative air like so many 

 little dragons." Darwin does not describe the structure of 

 the Liparis nor speak of the insects that fertilise it, but he 

 describes a few of the great exotic tribe Malaxeas, "which 

 ornament in so wonderful a manner the tropical forests." 

 Allied to them are the Adder's-mouths and Twayblades, 

 v/hich are among the most insignificant of the orchids in our 

 woods. 



A characteristic of this tribe is that the pollen grains 

 cohere in large waxy masses, and are not often furnished 

 with caudicles or bound with threads. 



In this particular genus there are four pollen masses, 

 two in each cell tucked into the anther that is attached to the 

 end of the elongated incurved column. 



Although no one has written for public print just how 

 fertilisation has taken place, yet Mr. Gibson's sketch of the 

 parts of the flower (Plate XLVIII., Fig. 3) is so clear that if, 

 with the structure clearly in mind, one could go to some 

 damp dell and watch a few of these plants for an hour or two, 

 one might see exactly how fertilisation is efi^ected. As the 

 flower stands poised on its stalk, one of the several in the 

 raceme, the greenish yellow petals and sepals radiate star 

 fashion with curved tips around the column. The lateral 

 petals are narrow as threads, and the broader lip is raised 

 alluringly. It has a nectar-secreting groove or furrow down 

 its median line, and the edges are incurved to make a 



