Bullee. — On an Insectivorous Plant. 303 



tinous within ; pileus stalked, divided at the summit into long 

 radiating simple entire or forked horizontal arms ; hymenium 

 at the base of the arms." The species to which I am 

 about to refer is thus described by the same distinguished 

 botanist : — 



" Aseroe rubra, Labill., Fl. N. Holl., ii. ; Berk., in Fl. N.Z.,ii., 

 187. Two to four inches high ; stem as thick as the thumb, 

 even. Bays of the pileus about 8, bright-red, long, subulate, 

 lin.-2in. long, split to the base, continuous with the stem, not 

 divided from them by a deep groove." 



Another species of the same genus, discovered by Mr. 

 Colenso at the Bay of Islands, has been described, and named 

 Aseroe hookeri ; but I have never seen it. 



There is an excellent coloured drawing of Aseroe rubra in 

 the appendix to the Bev. Bichard Taylor's " New Zealand and 

 its Inhabitants" (pi. v., fig. 3). 



I have met with this plant in various parts of New Zea- 

 land, always in the depth of the woods, its star-like form and 

 bright colour attracting immediate notice. But what I desire 

 to call attention to now is the singular fact (hitherto unre- 

 corded) that this fungus appears to be insectivorous in its 

 habit of life. Its presence is always indicated by a peculiar 

 foetid smell, like decomposing animal matter, and so pungent 

 in its nature that on handling the plant this very disagreeable 

 odour communicates itself to the fingers, and can only be got 

 rid of by washing the hands in water. 



On a recent occasion I found several of them growing in 

 the woods near the Papaiionga Lake; and Mr. Morgan Car- 

 keek, the District Surveyor, who happened to be with me at 

 the time, drew my attention to the fact that each of them had 

 the surface-cup, if I may so term it, completely filled up with 

 the partially-dissolved bodies of dead insects. Mr. Carkeek 

 assured me that during the many years he has spent in the 

 New Zealand forests he has invariably found this plant gar- 

 nished in a similar manner. 



From the interior of the stem a viscid foul-smelling fluid is 

 secreted, and this rises into the cup and mixes with the bodies 

 of moths, flies, beetles, and other small insects collected there, 

 which appear to undergo a process of gradual dissolution and 

 absorption. Now, the question arises, Is this fungus, like the 

 Droscra, a carnivorous plant, and is it endowed with its pun- 

 gent odcur, added to its flower-like brilliancy, for the purpose 

 of attracting its insect-food ? And is the fluid itself a solvent, 

 with the acid constituent for aiding the process of digestion ? 

 My answer is in the affirmative. 



I dissected one of the stems, and found that it was hollow, 

 or nearly so, with what appeared to be a membranous sac at 

 the bottom containing fluid matter; but the examination, 



