The leaves are green and
smooth as yet, with many a fantastic bloom, and many an ovary that has
just begun to swell, rising amidst the verdure. Each flower spike which
has been crossed carries its neat label, registering the father's name
and the date of union.
Mr. Maynard takes the two first virgin blooms to hand: _Cypripedium
Sanderianum_, and _Cypripedium Godefroyae_, as it chances. Let us cut off
the lip in order to see more clearly. Looking down now upon the flower,
we mark two wings, the petals, which stood on either side of the
vanished lip. From the junction of these wings issues a round stalk,
about one quarter of an inch long, and slightly hairy, called the
"column." It widens out at the tip, forming a pretty table, rather more
than one-third of an inch long and wide. This table serves no purpose in
our inquiry; it obstructs the view, and we will remove it; but the
reader understands, of course, that these amputations cannot be
performed when business is intended. Now--the table snipped off--we see
those practical parts of the flower that interest us. Beneath its
protection, the column divides into three knobbly excrescences, the
central plain, those on either side of it curling back and down, each
bearing at its extremity a pad, the size of a small pin's head, outlined
distinctly with a brown colour. It is quite impossible to mistake these
things; equally impossible, I hope, to misunderstand my description.
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