THE ORCHID REVIEW. 
VoL. XVII.) DECEMBER, 1909. [No. 204. 
THE EVOLUTION OF THE ORCHIDACE. 
(Continued from page 292.) 
THE large tribe Ophrydez follows Neottiez quite naturally, for the flowers 
show a far higher degree of complexity, and, as Darwin remarks, some 
ancient form of Neottiez, combining most of the characters of Epipactis, 
Spiranthes and Goodyera, but in a less developed state, would by further 
modification give rise to the whole tribe of Ophrydez. It contains upwards 
of 800 species, including such well-known genera as Orchis, Ophrys, 
Habenaria, Satyrium and Disa. 
The Ophrydez are all terrestrial, and the rhizome usually forms a 
distinct tuber, from which the next year’s growth is produced, after which 
the old tuber shrivels up and disappears. The stem is simple, usually leafy, 
either at the base or throughout, and bears a simple terminal raceme or 
spike, which dies down after ripening its seed. Bentham remarks that the 
Ophrydez. as established by Lindley, form a perfectly distinct tribe, 
circumscribed by positive characters derived from the anther, to which there 
is no exception, nor are there any intermediate forms connecting it with 
other tribes. The anther is adnate to the top of the column, and erect above 
the rostellum or turned back away from it: the anther cell or connective 
perfectly continuous with the clinandrium, and the two raised cells quite 
distinct, parallel or diverging and tapering at the base, so as to appear in a 
reversed position, their tapering ends being either adnate or applied upon 
the apex of the column, and thence frequently on to the lobes of the 
rostellum, with their back and not their dehiscent front regarding the 
rostellum. The pollen is usually coarsely granular, forming in each cell one 
or rarely two masses, produced into the tapering base of each cell in a 
slender caudicle, applied to a gland, in most cases free from the rostellum. 
Pfitzer places Ophrydee immediately after the Diandre and before 
Neottieze, because of the non-operculate anther, but this is not its true 
position, for the group shows a far higher degree of specialisation, indeed 
the genus Bonatea is one ofthe most complex in the Order, as will be seen 
presently. The basal position of the caudicle and gland are clearly 
correlated with the specialised structure of the anther. 
353 
