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136
My Studio Neighbors
·
W. Hamilton Gibson
56
Thus
primarily
identified
with
the
orchid,
it
was
perhaps
natural
and
excusable
that
popular
prejudice
should
have
associated
the
subject
of
cross-fertilization
with
the
orchid
alone;
for
it
is
even
to-day
apparently
a
surprise
to
the
average
mind
that
almost
any
casual
wild
flower
will
reveal
a
floral
mechanism
often
quite
as
astonishing
as
those
of
the
orchids
described
in
Darwin's
volume.
Let
us
glance,
for
instance,
at
the
row
of
stamens
below
(Fig.
1),
selected
at
random
from
different
flowers,
with
one
exception
wild
flowers.
Almost
everybody
knows
that
the
function
of
the
stamen
is
the
secretion
of
pollen.
This
function,
however,
has
really
no
reference
whatever
to
the
external
form
of
the
stamen.
Why,
then,
this
remarkable
divergence?
Here
is
an
anther
with
its
two
cells
connected
lengthwise,
and
opening
at
the
sides,
perhaps
balanced
at
the
centre
upon
the
top
of
its
stalk
or
filament,
or
laterally
attached
and
continuous
with
it;
here
is
another
opening
by
pores
at
the
tip,
and
armed
with
two
or
four
long
horns;
here
is
one
with
a
feathery
tail.
In
another
the
twin
cells
are
globular
and
closely
associated,
while
in
its
neighbor
they
are
widely
divergent.
Another
is
club-shaped,
and
opens
on
either
side
by
one
or
more
upraised
lids;
and
here
is
an
example
with
its
two
very
unequal
cells
separated
by
a
long
curved
arm
or
connective,
which
is
hinged
at
the
tip
of
its
filament;
and
the
procession
might
be
continued
across
two
pages
with
equal
variation.
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