io8 
Briefe. 
The female flowers, of a uniform green colour, are much like those of 
Monachanthus viridis, but the anther is much smaller. There is a pedicellus 
and disk; the disk is brown, and quite dry; the pedicellus white, elastic, not 
connected with the poUen- masses! On touching it, the pedicellus is 
ejected at some distance assuming the form of a hemicylinder. The anthers do 
not open (at least they had not done so some days after the expansion of the 
flowers, long after the pediceUi having been ejected). The poUen-masses con- 
sequently remain enclosed; although being much smaller, they ressembled in shape 
those of Catasetum and had a small caudiculus. I brought three of these pollen- 
masses into the stigmatic Chamber of Catasetum, where they emitted numerous 
pollen-tubes. Infortunately I had cut off the raceme of Catasetum, in order to 
preserve it from insects, and thus I am unable to say wether the pollen of 
Monachanthus may as yet be able to fertilize the ovules of Catasetum. — Certain- 
ly insects can never effect this fertilization. At all events this seems to me to' 
be one of the most interesting cases of rudimentary organs. We have on the 
one hand in Monachanthus a disk, a well developed elastic pedicellus, caudiculi 
and apparently good pollen, we have on the other hand in Catasetum a stigmatic 
surface able to cause this pollen to emit its tubes, and apparently good ovules 
and in spite of all this — from the dryness of the Stigma and disk and from the 
pedicelles not connected vvith the enclosed pollen-masses an utter impossibilitji 
of fertilization. 
When the pollen-masses of Catasetum are introduced into the entrance of 
the stigmatic cavity of Monachanthus, they peep out at half their length ; but in 
the course of the first days they are allowed, as it were, entirely, and the Stigma 
is shut. This swallowing of the pollen-masses is also to be observed in Cirrhaea 
and here it is easy to see how it is effected. The stigmatic cavity has a very 
narrow transversal slit into which only the very tip of the long pollen-masses 
may be introduced. Under the slit the cavity widens gradually and continues 
into a large canal occupying the center of the columna; this canal is empty, 
'while the upper part of the stigmatic cavity is filled with loose viscid cells. Now 
the tip of the pollen-masses in contact with the humid Stigma swells and thus is 
forced down into the wider inferior part of the stigmatic cavity and at last into 
the canal of the columna. Of course, what at first sight appears contradictory, 
the thickest pollen-masses must be swallowed first. Thus Decbr. 25'^ at 7h in 
the morning I fertilized two flowers of Cirrhaea with dry pollen-masses of another 
plant of the Speeles (coUected Decbr. 3^), four flowers of the same raceme with 
fresh own pollen-masses and one flower with a much larger pollen-mass of Gon- 
gora (bufonia?). This latter had disappeared at 3I1 in the afternoon, when the 
others peeped out half their length; at in the evening all had disappeared, 
with exception of one of the old pollen-masses of which a small part as yet 
peeped out. 
I enclose some seeds of Gesneria; they are, as you see, very small and 
may probably be blown at a great distance by the wind. There is in the seed- 
capsules a very fine contrivance preventing the seeds from falling to the ground 
whithout the action of the wind. The two valves remain united at the tip, and 
the capsule only opens by their longitudinal slit on its under and upper surface. 
(Kg. 35. S. 114.) 
