THE LESSER BUTTERFLY ORCHID 



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sation by means of insects. An insect seeking the 

 entrance to the spur is quite likely to detach one or 

 both of the club-shaped poUinia, which adhere to its 

 head by the viscid discs. Before the insect seeks 

 another flower, these structures, at first erect, bend 

 forwards, and so when the head of the insect is 



Fig. XII. — The Pollinium of an Orchid as removed from the flower, adhering 

 by the disc to the end of a needle. Much magnified. 



1. The position immediately after removal from the flower. 



2. The position assumed shortly afterwards. 



inserted into the spur of the next flower, the poUinia 

 come into contact with the stigma, to which they 

 adhere. Thus cross-fertilisation is efifected. 



In the Lesser Butterfly Orchid the structure of the 

 anther and stylar column is relatively simple. The 

 club-shaped pollinia are naked, and not covered in as 

 in many other Orchids. They are therefore easily 

 seen. 



Another feature common to most Orchids is that 

 the ovary is twisted, and thus the whole flower is 

 turned through a semicircle (180°), so that the 

 labellum, which is really the upper lip, comes to be 



