Cynorkis Pollination

Even if the two plants are separated, they are the same clone so you will be self-pollinating the flowers. That's OK, they take selfings quite readily. I'll take some images of Cynorkis guttata flowers in a while. Did you find where the pollen was?

 

OK, here are the reproductive parts of Cynorkis guttata. An now everyone will know that I've never figured out how to make an arrow in Photoshop.

'X' is the sticky end of the viscidium that is connected by a thread to the pollinia. You don't have to hunt from them, just pull gently on this part and the pollinia will come out. 'Y' is the stigmatic surface, but there is another name (that I forget right now) for it in many of the terrestrials. They are like 2 tusks. They are sticky and you drag the pollinia over and around them to deposit the pollinia. If they are wet or the pollinia are compromise, they don't stick. Unlike in other orchids, the pollinia are not a discrete number of waxy structures, but rather a lot of grainy material. Let me know if this doesn't make sense. I purposely made this image large so you can blow it up by clicking on it.

 

You're welcome, Carter. Terrestrials are really different. I can't tell you how many times I've had to call a friend to help me figure out what was what when pollinating a new terrestrial.