Long portrayed as charlatans of the plant world, many species of orchids attract pollinating insects with unfulfilled promises of food and sex. Orchids accomplish such deceitful pollination through a process called mimesis, which helps them falsely advertise nectar or mimic insect reproductive structures. Zong-Xin Ren et al. (pp. 7478-7480) have uncovered an unusual form of mimesis among a single-flowered species of slipper orchid in southwestern China called Cypripe-dium fargesii, which relies on cross-pollination for survival. The orchid's short, flowering stem bears two leaves whose upper surfaces are flecked with tufted black spots arranged in rows.
展开▼
