Page:Darwin - The various contrivances by which orchids are fertilized by insects (1877).djvu/149

. V. It is not my intention to describe the means of fertilisation in all these genera, but merely to select a few curious cases which illustrate the foregoing descriptions. The diversity of the contrivances adapted to favour the intercrossing of flowers, seems to be exhaustless.

MALAXEÆ.

Malaxis paludosa.-This rare orchid is the sole representative of the tribe in this country, and it is the smallest of all the British species. The labellum is turned upwards, instead of downwards, so that it does not afford a landing-place for insects as in most other Orchids. Its lower margin clasps the column, making the entrance into the flower tubular. From