ORCHID FERTILISATION— SEEDS A AD SEEDLINGS. 



33 



(false or aborted stamen) of cj'pripediuni, and just below this organ is the spoon- 

 shaped stigma, the lower rounded surface only of which is receptive or stigmatic. 

 In cypripcdium two out of the three anthers are developed ; viz., one on cither side 

 of the staminodc behind, and the pollen can be easily taken off with a toothpick, as it is 

 of a stitf treacle-like consistency. Cypripcdcs, calanthes, disas, and a few others, flower 

 in two or three years after sowing, and are, for that reason, the best kinds for the new 

 beginner to try his hand upon. 



After fertilisation the flower soon withers, and the fleshy ovary or seed capsule 



. dor^sa! sepal eolumn^,-^ I.p or label um 



o o 



9 " 



Fektiltsatio^- of Oecuids. 



1, Pollen masses of orcliiils (Pollinia) ; 2, column 

 and anther case of laelia ; 3, staminode and stigma of 

 cypripedium (the dark spot is the pollen) ; 4, fruit of 

 Cypripedium barhatum ; 5, diagrammatic section of 

 flower of cypripedium ; G, orchid seeds (various) ; 

 7, pollen masses of dendrobium ; 8, pollen masses of 

 la-lia ; 9, diagram (section) of orchid fruit. 



^1, Phalajnopsis grandiflora (complete flower) ; IJ, lip 

 or labellum ; C, column or anther case. 



The arrow pointing from the pollen masses with 

 caudicle and sticky gland shows the darkened stigmatic 

 cavity into which the pollen masses are placed for ferti- 

 lisation. The inside of this cavity is very sticky for the 

 retention of the pollen. 



swells rapidly, but the seeds are not ripe until the capsule becomes dry and begins to 

 split open. At this stage you must watch them carefully, or the fine mahogany sawdust- 

 like seeds will escape and be wafted all over the place. If this happens, most of the 

 young seedlings will be lost even if the seeds grow at all ; but now and then seedlings 

 appear in the most unlikely places, generally a damp apot on the walls, on moss-covered 

 pots or baskets, or oji the rotten woodwork of doors or wall-plates. 



When the seeds are ripe they must of course be sown carefully, and as a rule it is 

 best to sow them at once on a moist surface. A sod of fibrous peat, with some chopped 

 living sphagnum lodged into it by watering with a rose, makes a good seed-bed ; or 



VOL. I. F 



