. The life of the plant. Plant physiology. 244 THE LIFE OF THE PLANT a tube, called the spur (fig. 70 sp.).''- The pistil and stamens of this flower are equally singular in shape : the pistil consists of a long twisted ovary (ov.), on the top of which, without any style whatever, the stigma rests, in the shape of a sticky spot at the very entrance into the tube of the spur (stg.). The stamen has no filament, but consists of an anther only (anth.), situated close to the stigma. But all this does not ex- haust the pecu- liarities of this plant. Its pollen is not crumbling dust, but is gathered i
. The life of the plant. Plant physiology. 244 THE LIFE OF THE PLANT a tube, called the spur (fig. 70 sp.).''- The pistil and stamens of this flower are equally singular in shape : the pistil consists of a long twisted ovary (ov.), on the top of which, without any style whatever, the stigma rests, in the shape of a sticky spot at the very entrance into the tube of the spur (stg.). The stamen has no filament, but consists of an anther only (anth.), situated close to the stigma. But all this does not ex- haust the pecu- liarities of this plant. Its pollen is not crumbling dust, but is gathered in each of the two lobes of the anther into a lump, on a stalk which ends at the bottom in a sticky knob on the out- side of the anther (fig. 70, 2). Evidently since the pollen is not set free by itself it cannot reach without external assistance even the stigma of the same flower, although it lies so close to it. This very assistance is given by the insect. In settling upon the lip (ll), it thrusts its proboscis into the tube of the spur, at the bottom of which a sugary fluid is generally secreted, distinctly seen in'Plaianihera. The insect invariably comes up against the viscous knob sticking out of the stamen, and in flying off the flower carries away its mass of pollen. This arrangement of the flower is so accurate, and works so perfectly, that even a needle cannot be thrust into the spur in the direction of ^ Fig. 70 shows the flower of an orchid, all the petals of which are removed except the lip, which is spht into two, to show the entrance into the spur and the position of the Fig. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Timiri?a?zev, K. A. (Kliment Arkad?evich), 1843-1920; Sheremeteva, Anna, tr. London, New York, Bombay, Calcutta, Longmans, Green, and Co.
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectplantph, bookyear1912
