70 ELEMENTS OF STRUCTURAL BOTANY. 



aroh over the centre of the flower. Each flower springs 

 from the axil of a leaf-like bract, and is apparently 

 raised on a pedicel. What seems to be a pedicel, how- 

 ever, will, if cut across, prove to be the ovary, 

 which in this case is inferior. Its situation is 

 similar "to the situation of the ovary in Willow- 

 herb, and, as in that flower, so in this the 

 calyx-tubfe adheres to the whole surface of the 

 ovary, and the three outer divisions of the 

 perianth are simply upward extensions of this 

 tube. Notice the peculiar twist in the ovary. 

 The efiect of this twist is to turn the lip away 

 Fig. 92. from the scape, and so give it the appearance 

 of being the lower peta,l instead of the upper one, as it 

 really is. 



91. The structure of tlie stamens and pistil remains 

 to be examined, and a glance at the flower shows you 

 that we have here something totally difierent from the 

 common arrangement ot these organs. In the axis of the 



flower, immediately behind the opening into the 

 spur, there is an upward projection known as the 

 column. The face of this column is the stigma ; 

 «n each side of the stigma, and adhering to it, is 

 an anther-cell. These cells, though separated by 

 the column, constitute but a single stamen. The 

 stamen, then, in this case is united with the pistil, 

 Fig. 93. a condition which is described as gynandrous. 



92. If you have a flower in which the anther-cells are 

 bursting open, you will see that the pollen does not issue 

 from them in its usual dust-like form, but if you use the 



Fig. 92.— Single flower of Orchis. 



Fig. 93.— Pollcn-niasB of Orchis, greatly enlarged. 



