File:Plants of New Zealand (1906) (14781019181).jpg

Identifier: plantsofnewzeala1906lain (find matches)
Title: Plants of New Zealand
Year: 1906 (1900s)
Authors: Laing, R. M. (Robert Malcolm), b. 1865 Blackwell, E. W. (Ellen W.)
Subjects: Plants
Publisher: Christchurch : Whitcombe and Tombs, Ltd.
Contributing Library: The LuEsther T Mertz Library, the New York Botanical Garden
Digitizing Sponsor: The LuEsther T Mertz Library, the New York Botanical Garden

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orchids which he examined, thoughhe attributes this,* in part at any rate, to the general cold-ness of the previous season. In spite of all their lures,therefore, even the orchids at times are compelled toresort to self-pollination. It is impossible to do more thanmention one or two of the more extraordinary devices, by meansof which cross-pollination is secured amongst foreign orchids.We will then give a short account of the methods adopted byNew Zealand forms. Perhaps the mode of pollination adoptedby Goryantlies, as described by Dr. Criiger, is one of the mostextraordinary.! This orchid has part of its lahellum or lower lip hollowedout into a great bucket, into which drops of almost pure waterfall from two secreting horns which stand above it, and whenthe bucket is half-full, the water overflows by a spout on oneside. The basal part of the lahellum stands over the bucket, ♦Trans. Vol. XI. 11, p. 418 tDarwin, Origin of Species, Sixth Edition, ii)i. 154-15.5. THE OECHID FAMILY 113
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Fig.30. ThelyinitraE)ongifoliaand Microtis porrifolia (i nat. size). 114 PLANTS OF NEW ZEALAND and is itself hollowed out into a sort of chamber with twolateral entrances ; within this chamber there are cmious fleshyridges. The most ingenious man, if he had not witnessedwhat takes place, could never have imagined what purpose allthese parts serve. But Dr. Criiger saw crowds of hugehumble bees visiting the gigantic flowers of this orchid, not inorder to suck nectar, but to gnaw off the ridges within thechamber above the bucket; in doing this they frequentlypushed each other into the buckets, and their wings being thuswetted, they could not fiy away, but were compelled to crawlout by the passage forming the spout or overflow. Dr. Crtigersaw a continual procession of bees, thus crawling out oftheir involuntary bath. The passage is narrow, and is roofedover by the column, so that a bee, in forcing its way out,first rubs its back against the viscid stigma, and then againstthe viscid glands

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