JuLy, 1908.) THE ORCHID REVIEW. 217 
The whole organisation is remarkably complex, and at first sight it is 
difficult to say what some of the parts really represent. The sepals and 
petals are very membranous, and more or less rolled up and reflexed, while 
the lip is very fleshy, bucket-shaped, and suspended from a stout horizontal 
arm, and at the junction of the two is situated a fleshy cap or helmet, from 
which the genus takes its name, literally, ‘‘ helmet-flower.” The column 
descends on one side of the bucket, and at its junction with the horizontal 
arm are situated a pair of horn-like glands, from which as soon as the 
flower opens, a watery fluid begins to exude, and falls drop by drop into the 
bucket beneath. At this time the flower exhales a strong perfume, which 
serves to attract a beautiful metallic-green bee, sometimes in considerable 
numbers. These bees alight on the fleshy part of the flower and sides of the 
bucket, but soon fall into the liquid beneath. They swim round and round 
and struggle in vain to climb up its slippery sides, until one of them sees 
the narrow opening at the side opposite to the column, and makes its exit 
there, and in crawling out brings the pollinia away firmly attached to its 
back. Undeterred by its involuntary bath, it flies off to another flower, 
where the process is repeated, but on again coming out it has to pass the 
stigma, which captures the pollinia, and fertilisation follows. The whole 
thing sounds rather like romance, but it is a well authenticated fact, which 
has been verified many times, and may be seen regularly whenever the 
plants flower in their native homes. It is only the absence of the proper 
bee which prevents the spectacle from being seen in our houses at home, 
for the water collects in the bucket, just as in the wild state, and I have 
more than once watched the process. The really remarkable thing is that 
the plant should make such elaborate preparation to secure fertilisation of 
the flowers. There are about a dozen distinct species of the genus. 
Specialisation of another kind takes place in Catasetum and the allied 
genus Cycnoches, in the separation of the sexes into male and female flowers, 
and ina very elaborate arrangement for the transport of the pollen in the 
male flowers. Darwin thought there was a third or neutral sex, but this 
I have shown to be erroneous (Journ. Linn. Soc. xxvi. p. 206). The two 
kinds of flowers are sometimes borne on the same plant, and occasionally 
on the same inflorescence. The female flowers have a galeate or hood- 
shaped lip, which is uppermost, a stout ovary, a short stout column, on 
which is situated the stigma, but no anther or only a rudimentary one. 
The females, so far as known, do not show much diversity, except in size. 
On the contrary, the males of the different species, show great differences, 
especially in the shape, position, and details of the lip, and in a good many 
species only this sex is known. They agree in having a longer, more 
slender column, with the anther alone developed (both ovary and stigma 
being undeveloped), while in many cases the rostellum grows out into a pair 
