April-May, 1916.] 



Till-: ORCHID WORLD. 



r59 



side ; tliey hang nearly parallel wiUi the 

 column, but are so placed as to conceal in 

 no degree the lip, Nature taking most 

 especial care to exhibit lliis strange part in a 

 most conspicuous manner. The lip is as 

 fleshy and solid in its texture as the sepals 

 and petals are delicate. It is seated on a 

 deep purple stalk, nearly an inch, long, and 

 forming an obtuse angle with the column, 

 and consequently an acute one with the 

 ovary ; this stalk terminates in a hemi- 

 spherical greenish-purple cup, or rather cap, 

 considering its position ; and the latter, 

 contracting at its front edge, extends 

 forward into a sort of second stalk of a very 

 vivid blood colour, the sides of which are 

 thinner than the centre, turned back, and 

 marked with four or five very deep, solid, 

 sharp-edged plaits. These plaited edges 

 again expand and form a second cup, less 

 lobed than the first, thinning away very 

 much to the edges, of a broadly conical 

 figure, with a diameter of at least two inches 

 at the orifice ; this second cup is on an 

 ochry-yellow, streaked and spotted with 

 pale crimson, and seems intended to catch 

 a watery secretion, which drips into it from 

 two succulent horns, which take their origin 

 in the base of the column, and hang over 

 the centre of the cup." 



But, it will be asked : What is the design 

 of this unusual structure, and what is its use 

 in the economy of the plant ? Such an 

 enquiry as this can only be satisfactorily 

 answered after a patient watching of the 

 flower from its first expansion and its 

 surroundings m its native country till it 

 begins to fade, or, at least, till the purpose 

 has been accomplished for which the flower 

 was created. Fortunately, in this case the 

 desired observation has been made by Dr. 

 Cruger, formerly Director of the Botanic 

 Gardens at Trinidad, who writes (/ nr. Linn. 

 Soc, VIII., p. I2g) : 



" Large humble-bees, noisy and quarrel- 

 some, are attracted at first by the smell of 

 the flower ; but the smell probably only 

 gives notice to the insects ; the substance 

 they really come for is the interior lining 

 of the labellum, which the\' gnaw off with 



great industry. They may be .seen in great 

 numbers disputing with each other for a 

 place f>n the edge of the hypochile. Partly 

 l)y the contest, partly jierhaps intoxicated 

 by the matter they are indulging in, they 

 tumble down into the bucket half-full of the 

 fluid secreted by the horn-like organs at the 

 base of the column. They then crawl along 

 the anterior inner side of the bucket where 

 there is a passage for them. If one is early 

 on the look-out, as these Hymenopters are 

 early risers, one can see on every flower how 

 fecundation is performed. The humble-bee 

 m forcing its way out of its involuntary bath 

 has to exert itself considerably, as the mouth 

 of the epichile and the face of the column 

 fit together exactly, and are very stiff and 

 elastic. The first bee that is immersed will 

 have the gland of the pollen masses glued 

 to its back. The insect then generally gets 

 through, the passage and comes out with 

 this peculiar appendage, to return nearly 

 immediately to its feast, when it is generally 

 precipitated a second time into the bucket, 

 passing out through the same aperture, and 

 so inserting the pollen masses into the stigma 

 while it forces its way out, and thereby 

 impregnating either the same or some other 

 flower. I have often seen this, and some- 

 times there are so many of these humble-bees 

 assembled, that there is a continual 

 procession of them through the passage 

 specified." 



OdONTOGLOSSUM CRISPUM. — A remark- 

 ably fine variety is sent by Mr. W. J. Morgan 

 from the collection of Mr. H. J. Bromilow, 

 Rann Lea, Rainhill, Lanes. The total width 

 of the flower is 3j inches, the petals being 

 ih inches wide, and well-set. The segments 

 are white, slightly tinged with faint rose on 

 the back, while all are boldly blotched with 

 crimson-red. This is a home-raised plant, 

 and, although showing- slight evidence of 

 Pescatorei in the formation of the lip, it is 

 best classified as a crispum. It is in every 

 way an excellent and noteworthy variet)'. 



