ON THE 



ORGANS AND MODE OF FECUNDATION 



ly 



ORCHIDE^AND AS C LE PI ADEiE. 



Read November 1st and ISth, 1831. 



In the Essay now submitted to the Society, my prin- 

 cipal object is to give an account of some observations^ 

 made chiefly in the course of the present year, on the 

 structure and economy of the sexual organs in Orchidea; 

 and Asclepiadese, — the two families of phsenogamous 

 plants which have hitherto presented the most important 

 objections to the prevailing theories of vegetable fecun- 

 dation. 



But before entering on this account, it is necessary to 

 notice the various opinions that have been held respecting 

 the mode of impregnation in both families : and in con- 

 cluding the subject of Orchidese, I shall advert to a few 

 other points of structure in that natural order. 



' [This portion of the Memoir was originally printed for private distribution 

 in October, 1831. The additions made to it when reprinted in the 'Linnean 

 Transactions,' consist chiefly of the references to the authors quoted, of three 

 notes at pp. 495, 496 and 497, and of the plates and their explanations. The 

 alterations are merely verbal, v/ith the exception of a passage at pp. 522-4, 

 beneath which I have appended the corresponding passage of the first impres- 

 sion in a note. — Edit.] 



