September, 191 6.] 



THK ORCHID WORLD. 



235 



assuming the shape of the labcllum, thus 

 making three labellums in all ; such examples 

 are termed irregular pelorism, for the whorl 

 is made up of three similarly irregular 

 segments. 



Before considering the reproductive organs 

 it will be well to examine a flower of Lilium 

 auratum, which will be found not unlike an 

 Orchid as regards its outer whorl of three 

 sepals and its inner whorl of three broader 

 petals. In the centre of the flower is situated 

 the style, on the apex of which the stigma is 

 placed ; around it are six stamens, each 

 consisting of a filament and anther. Fertili- 

 sation is effected by the wind or insects 

 transferring pollen from the anthers to the 

 stigma. Although an Orchid flower contains 

 potentially also six stamens, arranged in two 

 whorls of three, some of them are difficult to 

 trace. The median one of the outer whorl 

 and the two lateral ones from the inner whorl 

 assist in forming the column, in which the 

 style with its stigmatic lobes is included. In 

 the diandrous section, which includes the 

 genus Cypripedium, it is the two lateral 

 stamens that are fertile ; while in the monan- 

 drous class only the median stamen is fertile. 

 To this latter class belong the popular 

 Cattleyas, Odontoglossums, Oncidiums, 

 Dendrobiums, Vandas, etc. 



Insect agency is necessary to transfer the 

 pollen of Orchidaceous plants, and very 

 interesting are some of the means by which 

 this is accomplished. The genus Coryanthes 

 shows an extraordinary adaptation to insect 

 fertihsation, part of the labellum being formed 

 in the shape of a bucket, kept full of an 

 appetising liquid, into which the insects are 

 attracted, their only means of escape being a 

 narrow passage, through which they crawl 

 and in so doing unconsciously remove the 

 pollen and carry it off on their backs to the 

 next flower visited, where the process is 

 repeated. A fuller description of this inter- 

 esting procedure is given in the ORCHID 

 World, Vol. II., p. 28, together with 

 illustrations of Coryanthes Balfouriana, and 

 in Vol. VI., p. 158, concerning C. macrantha. 



Fertilisation results in the formation of a 

 capule, or seed-pod as it is called by 



Orchidists. In the case of the Vanilla Orchid 

 a commercial value it attached to the pods on 

 account of the well-known flavouring essence 

 which IS prepared from them. 



On the conclusion of the lecture, the 

 chairman. Sir Jeremiah Colman, Bart., 

 referred to some interesting points in connec- 

 tion with the fertility of Dendrobium seed in 

 its native country as well as under artificial 

 cultivation. Mr. W. Swan's remarks on the 

 different positions of the labellum, and also 

 on a hybrid between a Cypripedium and a 

 Selenipedium, were of considerable value. 

 Among others who entered into the discus- 

 sion was a lady amateur, who referred to the 

 amount of atmospheric moisture required. 



Millonia Candida. 



MiLTONiA CANDIDA. — This handsome 

 Brazilian species first flowered in Messrs. 

 Loddiges' nursery in 1838, although imper- 

 fectly. According to Sir Wm. Hooker it was 

 originally imported from Brazil by the Earl 

 of Arran, but very little appears to be known 

 of its real habitat. The flowers, produced in 

 the autumn months, are chestnut-brown 

 tipped and spotted with yellow, the lip white 

 with light purple blotches on the disc. 



