142 Transactions. 



linear or oblong, at first erect but ultimately spreading, sometimes abruptly 

 recurved. Inner segments almost twice the length of the outer, linear- 

 spathulate to obovate-oblong, connate or connivent at the tips, gaping in 

 the middle, keeled on the back, with the keel produced into a subulate point 

 at the tip. Stamens 6, affixed to the throat of the perianth-tube, shortly 

 exserted, abruptly deflexed within the tube ; filaments very short, free ; 

 anther-connectives much enlarged and expanded, connate into a membranous 

 tube which is bilamellate at the apex ; anther-cells small, distinct, towards 

 the base of the tube formed by the connectives. Ovary inferior, broadly 

 obovoid, 1 -celled : placentas 3, free ; ovules very numerous ; style short, 

 thick ; stigma 3-lobed, the lobes broad, almost quadrate, concave, trun- 

 cate at the tip. Fruit unknown. 



Hah. — Primeval woods at Opepe, near Lake Taupo ; alt., 2,000 ft.; 

 H. Hill. Flowers in January. 



Bagnisia Hillii is usually found on the mound of decaying leaves and 

 humus which accumulates at the base of the trunk of the kahikatea pine 

 (Podocarpus dacrydioides). On account of its small size it is easily over- 

 looked, even in the flowering season, the flowers being often partially con- 

 cealed by fallen leaves. Once noticed, however, the bright rose-pink colour 

 of the flowers enables the observer to pick it with ease. Like many of the 

 Bxirmanniacefje, the flower has a most bizarre appearance. The three inner 

 perianth-segments, widely separated in the middle, but closing together and 

 connivent at the tips, give it somewhat the appearance of a bishop's mitre, 

 or perhaps of a lantern with three elliptical windows or openings. Li the 

 bud, or in the newly expanded flower, the three outer segments partly close 

 these openings, but they gradually spread outwards, and ultimately (judging 

 from specimens in formalin) become sharply reflexed. The structure of the 

 anthers is most peculiar, and deserves careful study. As stated in the 

 description, the connectives are enormously enlarged, and are connate into 

 a broad membranous tube, which, owing to the curious manner in which 

 the stamens are deflexed. lies parallel with the inside of the perianth-tube, 

 the tips of the connectives pointing to the base of the flower, and the minute 

 anthers opening into the narrow space between the connective-tube and the 

 wall of the perianth-tube. The connective-tube is split into two delicate 

 lamellfe at the apex, and the outer lamella of each connective is 2-lobed, 

 with a slender bristle arising from the bottom of the sinus. On the com- 

 missure of each connective, but on the inner face of the lamella, is a small 

 oblong gland. The inner lamella is very delicate, and has an undulate 

 margin fringed with delicate cilia. 



It is difficult to see how pollination is effected, seeing that the minute 

 anthers, which only produce a small quantity of pollen, are hidden away at 

 the back of the connective-tube, in a narrow passage to which access can only 

 be obtained through the small openings between the short filaments, just 

 at the entrance of the flower, or by crawling up behind the connective-tube 

 from the base of the flower. It is significant that many flowers are found 

 partly eaten by insects. Can it be that the conspicuous coloration of the 

 flower and its juicy texture attract minute insects, which, while destroying 

 certain portions of it, pollinate the short stigma at the base of the flower ? 

 It is much to be desired that some local observer would work out the fertilis- 

 ation of the plant in detail. 



Considerable attention has been paid to the BurmanniacecE of late years, 

 the American species in particular having been worked up by Warming, 



