FRUCTIFICATION. 
Tab. VIII. 
A view of the pollen-masses of Bletia verecunda dissolved 
in water; from a sketch by Mr. Bauer in 1801. 
This figure is to shew the real nature of the waxy pollen-masses of 
Orchideous plants. When examined as represented in this figure they 
are found to consist of innumerable particles of pollen cohering in pairs, 
threes, or fours, by means of a delicate, transparent, elastic web. The 
central part which connects the four lobes is what appears under the 
form of connecting filaments or straps, which are found from this figure 
to be a mere plexus of this elastic web, with a small quantity of loosely 
cohering grains of pollen scattered among it. Magnified 100 times. 
The separate figure, of a grain and some granules of pollen, is mag¬ 
nified 400 times. 
