144 THE HUMAN SIDE OF PLANTS 
soon become extinct. There are, however, a few 
species, like the bee-orchid, which are self-fertilised 
and do not need to employ such cunning. 
The cuckoo-pint is extremely discourteous to her 
guests! After they have been bidden to enter, and 
are once inside, they go to the dining-room, or lower 
chamber, where the sweets are stored; quickly the 
flower closes, and the imprisoned insect is not per- 
mitted to leave until the pollen from the male flow- 
ers is properly distributed to the female flowers. In 
this plant the male and the female flowers live on 
the same stalk. But the fertilisation cannot take 
place without the aid of a pollen-bearer, and the 
poor trapped insect acts as the needed messenger. 
When the fertilisation has been accomplished, the 
flower slowly opens, and the affronted insect de- 
parts. 
Not the least curious among the kidnappers, and 
surely the most cruel, is the goose-plant. This 
strange plant monstrosity is botanically known as 
Aristolochia gigas, and its native home is Guate- 
mala. The flower-bud is shaped strikingly like a 
goose swimming in water. ‘This bud is usually 
about fourteen to sixteen inches in length, and when 
it first bursts into bloom, the curve, representing 
the breast of the goose, displays the most exquisite 
velvety linings of dark purples that shade into 
