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April 19th. Cypripedium pubescens, lent me by Rev. A. Rawson. (N. America Steudel)

I first put flies into Labellum, they were too big & too stupid to get out I then caught an extremely minute Bee; & put it in, & covered orifice of labellum with wet blotting paper; but this I found superfluous, for edges of orifice of labellum are turned over all round just like insect-trap, & smooth & the Bee cd not take flight at bottom & could only escape by either window. The edges of labellum are folded over the back of Stigma & the elongated triangular [illeg] anther closes junction of folded edges of labellum posteriorly to its opening; so that no escape was left possible except by windows. Pollen glutinous & can be drawn out into very short threads. Stigma very large & covered with

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minute spines pointed towards apex & so would [clasp] against, like a brush, any body crawling upwards. Now when I put bees in, almost immediately it crawled up to either window in front of either anther, where surface of the labellum is very woolly; it crawled with its back to the anther or back downwards; & every time I saw that the thorax & base of wings was coated with viscid pollen. I caught bee again & put it in; & now it had of necessity to crawl right under the broad stigma & then under anther & so out & was again coated with pollen. The bee necessarily crawls under the stigma, with narrow space only left.— only between the surface of labellum & stigma; it cannot crawl laterally for folded.

[insertion:] & then under either anther edge of labellum is pressed against back of stigma.—

I put in bees 5 times & saw it 5 times crawl out & remove pollen: I then opened flower & fond the stigma in large part actually

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Coated with pollen! This is the plan, certainly, as discovered by Asa Gray. Insect must be nicely adapted in size to flower. Pollen must be carried from one flower to another, unless insect visit immediately same flower twice. The wool in front of anther being springy compelled insect to press against the flat surface, like a little saucer with flexible edges filled to brim with treacle. No, anther is convex & coated with viscid pollen

Stigma was chiefly smeared on the side of the window towards light by which the insect made its exit.