222 

 NOTES OF A BOTANIST. 



(Continued from page 124 ,). 

 Peculiarities of Form in the Structure of the Blossom. 



Amidst the endless diversity discoverable in the forms of the blossom, we 

 find some unusual singularities, and these striking deviations, we may rest assured, 

 have their peculiar design in the beneficent arrangements of a prospective Provi- 

 dence. The Fly, Bee, Wasp, and Butterfly Orchises — the flowers of the Oncidi- 

 um papilio, and those of the Peristeria elata, not to name myriads more of re- 

 markable epiphytes, adorned with blossoms as exquisitely beautiful as they are 

 singularly curious — all have a specific purpose to fulfil in the economy of creation. 

 Not the least remarkable among blossoms are the flowers of the Aristolochia : 

 those of the A. trifida have a prolonged lip, which, from its slender form, might 

 be truly called " a hair lip." A proper inspection of the distribution of the blos- 

 soms will unveil the design of this curious conduit. The flower is a true conden- 

 ser of the aqueous vapour that settles on it ; and, on the principles of radiation, 

 the structure and the colour will facilitate the deposition of dew, while the elon- 

 gated lip as duly transmits the stream to the roots of the plant. Many plants, at 

 the period of inflorescence, require an unusual supply of water ; such as the Hey- 

 dychium favum, and others. 



The Kaulfussia amelloides presents a singular feature in its individual petals : 

 they are rolled up, or curled like a lady's tresses, and temperature seems to be 

 intimately connected with the phenomenon ; nor is it unlikely that moisture has 

 something to do with it, cold being the result of its evaporation. I found that the 

 flower of the K. amelloides, when pressed in contact with a heated metallic plate, 

 instantly unrolled its petals, which were as suddenly coiled up again on transfer- 

 ring the disc of the flower to the surface of cold water. On the other hand, the 

 flowers of the Mesembryanthemum, on their approach to the source of heat, in- 

 flected their petals inwards towards the centre. 



Maturation of Seeds. 



In a former section, it will be remembered, I adverted to the natural ventila- 

 tion of seeds, and incidentally mentioned some interesting provisions made for 

 this purpose. To secure their maturation, we find insulation and uniformity of 

 temperature not unfrequently essential conditions, and these are accordingly sti- 

 pulated for in the physiology of plants. A continental writer has, in a recent 

 number of the Magazine of Natural History, favoured us with some crude and 



