Pollinia

Pollinia
Much of the classification of the family is based on the structure of the pollinia and their associated organs.

They can be extracted from the flower by sliding a needles or match slowly upwards along the inner side of the column.

They can then be examined with a hand-lens (a magnification of x 10 or x 15 is usually adequate).

The number of pollinia can usually be easily seen, though care must be taken as the pollinia are sometimes not all extracted at once.

A few species have 2 deeply bilobed pollinia, which can look like 4; again, other species may have extra infertile pollinia which are shrunken and colorless.

In most of the tropical species in cultivation the pollinia are waxy to hard and of a well-defined shape.

In some hardy species they are more powdery, or are made up of several to many individual packets which separate easily from each other.

The pollinia generally have a small , sticky pad (the viscidium, derived from stigmatic material) at the base.

There is sometimes a stalk (stipe) between the viscidium and the individual pollinia, or each pollinium may have its own individual stipe.

Again, in some genera, the median lobe of the 3-lobed stigma is modified to play a part in the pollination process.

The structure so formed is known as the rostellum, and can be quite conspicuous in some groups.
Pollinia