Organisation of the Column

In the hypothetical primitive orchid flower envisioned by Dressler and Dodson, there are three fertile stamens, the median one slightly above the stigma and the two laterals slightly below it. The filaments are united with the style halfway below with the top half left free. Such a type of flower comes very near to those of Apostasieae. Here the column does not exist in the strict sense of the term. The filaments are free. But Garay (1960) records that in some species like Apostasia papuana, the filament is reduced to a mere connective tissue , which resembles the condition seen in some Neottieae like Cranichis crumenifers, Spiranthes and Erythrodes. In advanced forms the style and the filaments are completely united to form the column.