F R U C T I F I C A T I O N .
TAB. VIII.
A view of the pollen-masses of B L E T I A 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 magnified
400 times.
