HOUSE AND GARDEN 
February, 1913 
103 
as food to the greedy bee, in the hope that by chance a few 
grains will reach the pistil of some other flower. Not so the 
ingenious orchid! Such wasteful methods are beneath it. Its 
pollen grains, too precious to be scattered broadcast, are wrapped 
in sealed packages and invariably 
fastened securely to the insect 
messenger that is to carry the 
life-giving substance to the wait¬ 
ing stigma of the bride flower. 
To attract the messenger, gor¬ 
geous colors are displayed and 
sweet perfumes wafted on the 
air. Honey, too, is usually pro¬ 
vided in good store, but always 
in a way that prevents the insect 
from taking toll without per¬ 
forming the task that the crafty 
flower has assigned it. Some¬ 
times no free honey is present. 
In order to get the sweets the 
insect must bore into the tissues. 
These tissues are placed in parts 
of the flower where the insect 
will come in contact with a sticky 
membrane when assuming a 
position to drill. This instantly 
glues itself to the intruder’s head, and in fly¬ 
ing off the insect drags the pollen masses with 
the membrane. Eager for more nectar, the 
insect now seeks another flower, where, in 
negotiating an entrance, it will, perforce, leave 
the pollen where it reaches the ovarv. In 
other kinds of orchids, in the Cattleya for ex¬ 
ample, plenty of honey easy of access flows 
at the bottom of a long trumpet. Mistress 
Humblebee finds no trouble in reaching the 
feast, but in retreating she upturns a cup of 
glue and smeared with its contents rubs against 
the pollen masses and carries them away. 
Cattleya labiata. The delicately frilled petals en¬ 
close an intricate device for fertilization 
Gentle methods are not always pursued. There are the Cory- 
anthes, whose blossoms form suspended baskets, half full of the 
clearest water. Attracted by the powerful perfume, curious bees 
congregate on the edges. Exploring for nectar, of which there 
is only a semblance, one of them 
is bound to fall in. With wetted 
wings she cannot fly. The walls 
are too steep and slippery to per¬ 
mit her to crawl up. Casting 
around for a means of escape, she 
sees at one end an aperture. It 
is not large enough for her to 
crawl through, but as sbe presses 
forward, the walls give way like 
a trap door, permitting her to 
pass out along a narrow tunnel. 
In doing so she comes in contact 
with the viscid pollen mass which 
immediately becomes cemented to 
her back. The foolish creature, 
having learned nothing from her 
bath, repairs to another flower 
where the same performance is 
repeated. This time in passing up 
the narrow channel, the pollen 
mass is left on the stigma, which, 
in the economy of the flower, is placed just 
below the anther. 
More elaborate is the mechanism of the 
Bulbophyllum Lobbii, whose lip, supported on 
pivots, is built like a catapult. An unsuspect¬ 
ing fly lights on the front lobe and advances 
along the teeter. Quick as a flash it is shot 
up against the overhanging stigma and held 
prisoner, ' until, if it has brought pollen, the 
flower is impregnated. 
Perhaps the most remarkable of all orchids 
is the Catasetum. In this the male and 
female organs are not found in the same 
Laelia purpurata. The interest in orchids lies not 
only in curious forms but in exquisite colors 
Miltonia vexillaria was once protuse in Colombia but now is 
only procurable by root division 
A curious orchid. Each flower re¬ 
sembles a bird alighting 
