ORCHID FAMILY 173 
more curious blossom. In this part the petals are | 
developed into a strange pouch-like labellum or lip 
which gives the flower its chief display. In the 
top of the labellum is an opening that leads to 
the large cavity within, the opening being arranged 
something like’ those rat-traps in which the rat 
goes in through an opening in the top through 
which he ¢annot return. 
The whole curious mechanism of the Lady’s- 
slipper blossom has to do with the visits of small 
bees which bring about the fertilization of the 
tiny ovules through the pollen carried from, other 
flowers. The bee enters the opening in the lip and 
finds itself in the large chamber from which it 
can only escape through one of two small holes 
at the upper end of the flower. To reach these 
the bee walks upward, but before it escapes it 
must rub its back against the stigma of the 
blossom, in so doing covering it with any pollen 
that was upon the bee’s back, and then against the 
anther which is covered with viscid pollen that is 
smeared upon the back of the bee. Thus it goes 
to the next flower laden with a new supply of 
the fertilizing pollen. 
You may watch these Lady’s-slippers many an 
hour perhaps without seeing any of the bees at 
work. But they come occasionally, and the flow- 
ers wait patiently, often remaining in good con- 
dition nearly a fortnight if no bee arrives. 
