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The video shows a bisexual orchid flower in the process of self-pollination. The procedure takes place in the absence of pollinators and involves self-directed, 360° rotation of the male part of the orchid flower. The orchid Holcoglossum amesianum dwells on tree trunks in southwestern China and flowers during the dry, windless and insect-scarce season. Its flower has a column structure with a cap at the top that covers the male part (anther), which consists of a flexible stick (stipe) carrying two orange-like pollen aggregates (pollinia) that lie on a long bed (clinandrium) underneath which the female part (stigma) can be found inside a cavity. When the flower is fully open, the cap opens and falls off. The male part then rises up from the clinandrium, curves forwards and downwards to cross over the clinandrium edge (rostellum), then back and up towards the cavity where it finally inserts the pollinia into the female stigma cavity to achieve fertilization. This fascinating pollination mechanism has evidently evolved to adapt to the orchid’s harsh pollinator-scarce habitat, to ensure reproductive success and long-term survival. It shows the incredible power of plant adaptation and evolution (Nature 441, 945–946; 2006).

Courtesy of LaiQiang Huang, director, The Center for Biotech and BioMedicine, Tsinghua University Graduate School at Shenzhen (huanglq@sz.tsinghua.edu.cn), and Zhong-Jian Liu, director, the National Orchid Conservation Center at Shenzhen. All rights reserved.

Proceed to Professor Huang's website (in English and Simplified Chinese).