The Gardeners' chronicle : a weekly illustrated journal of horticulture and allied subjects . ollector might search for miles without means of a sticky disk, with which they are provided,they adhere to the back of the insect, and are carriedto another flower. Here the pollen masses come incontact with the stigma, and the flower is from a Creeper or branch may be seenhere and there an oval bag-like mass of aerial roots,something like one of the nests of the troupials socommon on the silk-cotton tree, above which are thepseudo-bulbs and leaves of that wonderful Orchidthe Corya
The Gardeners' chronicle : a weekly illustrated journal of horticulture and allied subjects . ollector might search for miles without means of a sticky disk, with which they are provided,they adhere to the back of the insect, and are carriedto another flower. Here the pollen masses come incontact with the stigma, and the flower is from a Creeper or branch may be seenhere and there an oval bag-like mass of aerial roots,something like one of the nests of the troupials socommon on the silk-cotton tree, above which are thepseudo-bulbs and leaves of that wonderful Orchidthe Coryanthes. After throwing out two or threeroots to attach itself to its support, it develops aninterlacing network all round, in a way almostpeculiar to the genus. At first sight it would be hardto say what purpose could be served by such a contri-vance, but strike or shake the plant and it will beseen that it is nothing less than a veritable antsnest. The Orchid is, like other plants, subject tothe attacks of many foes, such as cockroaches andlarva?, which are particularly fond of the aerial. Fig. 79.—ripening stages foe ibis in professor m. posters garden, finding a specimen. But when the Catasetum opens,whether it is hidden in the fork of a tree, perched farup among the foliage of the Eta, or on sand thrownup from a charcoal pit, the insect is sure to find itout. The flowers are not generally brilliant orshowy, neither have they, like the Stanhopeas, anystrong perfume, but, nevertheless, the bees discoverthem at once. Even in Georgetown, where manyOrchids do not find their fertilising agents, andconsequently remain barren, no sooner does the spikeof flowers open, than the bees swarm around it may be obstructed by foliage, or hiddenin some out-of-the-way corner, the buzzing is heardin the early morning, telling anyone who has hiseyes open that a Catasetum is flowering. Havingsucceeded in attracting the bee from a distance insome unaccountable way, a feast
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