^12 Transactions. — Botany. 



sjnaller. Labellum uppermost, very remarkable in shape, 

 the lower portion claw-like, and articulated on to the basal 

 projection of the column; the upper part expanded into a 

 broad lamma, which is peltately attached to the claw. This 

 lamma is convex on its outer or upper side, concave towards 

 the column or on its lower side, rounded at the base, narrowed 

 towards the apex and bluntly 2-lobed. The concave side is 

 smooth, the convex or outer side covered with close-set reddish 

 tubercles, which are longest on the margins. Column hori- 

 zontal, rather long, with a broad basal projection, broadly 

 winged, concave, forming a horizontally-placed cup or pouch. 



Hab. Shaded places among Lcptosper7num, vicinity of 

 Eotorua. Flowers in December and January. 



The flowers have a most singular and bizarre appearance, 

 and are well worth careful study. Owing to the ovary being 

 recurved, the column is the lowest part of the flower, and forms 

 a shallow cup or pouch. Directly over it is the broad lamina 

 of the labellum, hanging from a dehcate claw or ribbon which 

 curves upwards from the basal projection of the column. A 

 veryslight pressure on the lamina causes it to overbalance, 

 and it then swings over and descends on to the column, which 

 it closes as with a lid. After a period of rest, it again assumes 

 its previous position. No doubt this remarkable movement is 

 connected w^ith the fertihsation of the plant. It seems pro- 

 bable that small Diptera or other minute insects alight on the 

 labellum, which then capsizes, imprisoning the insects in the 

 concavity of the column ; that they then disturb the pollinia, 

 and either fertilise the flower with its own pollen, or when 

 escaping convey the pollinia to other flowers. The latter sup- 

 position appears to me the most likely ; but Mr. Fitzgerald, 

 who has had good opportunities of studying the fertilisa'tion of 

 the plant in Australia, considers that it is almost invariably 

 self-fertilised. 



It is perhaps worth mentioning here that some years ago 

 Mr. W. T. Ball collected a single specimen of a species of Calo- 

 chilus between Eotorua and Whakarewarewa, and Mr. Spencer 

 has since found it in the same locality. Judging from dried 

 specimens, the plant is either closely allied to or identical with 

 the Australian G. paludosus, Br., which has been collected at 

 CoUingwood by Mr. H. H. Travers (Buchanan, Trans. N.Z. 

 Inst., XV., 340). 



