84 A NATUEALKT'S WANDERINGS 



their neighbours four of its florets. These alone of the sixteen 

 flowers bore fruit. A couple of months later a fine new spike 

 appeared, which I left to its own resources. For between four 

 and five weeks it exhibited a very fine tross of twelve flowers ; 

 but not one seed-capsule was produced. The insect life at the 

 lower station seemed quite as abundant as at the higher. 

 This orchid possesses no nectary, and its odour, if not 

 pleasant, is not disagreeable. The viscid disk of its poUinia 

 is remarkable for its elasticity. After removing a pollen 

 mass from the anther, I applied it to the stigma of another 

 floret, and on withdrawing the pencil to which it was ad- 

 hering, it sprang back with an audible snap, the viscid disk 

 stretching quite one-eighth of an inch, without leaving pollen 

 on the stigma, for the floret did not set a capsule. The same 

 result followed after allowing the pollen to remain for some 

 seconds in contact with the stigmatic surface. After the lapse 

 of a week the viscid disk still retained its elasticity unimpaired, 

 so much so that I was able to extend it as often as ten times 

 for various distances up to nearly one-fifth of an inch before 

 the connection gave way — a sharp snap always accompanying 

 its relaxation. 



One of the prettiest and commonest orchids here was a pure 

 white Bendrohium {D. crumenatum), which suddenly appears 

 in flower on all the trees of a district nearly on the same day. 

 I have examined many hundreds of flowers, and I am quite 

 sure, though I have not kept very accurate statistics of the 

 numbers, that not one in eighty ever sets a seed capsule. 



Growing terrestrially in abundance in damp shady, situa- 

 tions is another group of this fivmily belonging to the genus 

 Calanthe. Calanihe veratrifulia produces quite a dense head 

 of elegant white flowers, but the number of those that become 

 fertilised are in enormous disproportion to those that fall off 

 barren. I have examined plants in numerous localities, in 

 heights amid the dense forest, as well as in more open . 

 situations ; I have studied them low down, both in the sun and 

 in the deep shade, but have invariably found that a very 

 small proportion produces fruit. Generally the pollinia are 

 found in the anther after the fall of the flower ; but often they 

 are absent, without any pollen being left in return on the 

 stigma. In five different plants, out of 360 florets examined, 



