Abstract
Orchids have evolved a multitude of seemingly bizarre contrivances to get themselves pollinated. Indeed, Charles Darwin made painstakingly detailed studies of orchid reproduction processes, published in his 1862 book The Various Contrivances by Which Orchids Are Fertilized by Insects. This book was meant to provide further evidence in support of his revolutionary evolutionary theory, expounded in his great work On The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection published 3 years earlier. Writing to publisher John Murray, Darwin said of the book, “I think this little volume will do good to the ‘Origin’, as it will show that I have worked hard at details.” Indeed he did, but his endeavors did not convince the theologically minded, as a review in the Literary Churchman concluded that the book was in essence saying, “Oh Lord, how manifold are Thy works!”
In my examination of orchids, hardly any fact has struck me so much as the endless diversities of structure – the prodigality of resources – for gaining the very same end, namely, the fertilization of one flower by pollen from another plant.
Charles Darwin
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Schiff, J.L. (2018). Deviant Sex. In: Rare and Exotic Orchids. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70034-2_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70034-2_4
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