BY ALEX. G. HAMILTON, 49 



flowers; it is figured in Sir Wm. Hooker's series of Curtis's Bot. 

 Mag. Vol. SI, PI. 4848, and Dr. Mueller, the Director of the 

 Botanic Gardens at Melbourne, has done me the honour of naming 

 it E. Bennetti. . . : The late Dr. Brown observed a sinffular 

 part of the structure [Dr. Bennett here quotes the above passage].'' 

 In 1834 Dr." Brown requested me to observe in Australia the 

 ceconomy of these flowers, and to ascertain whether his statements 

 were correct, and, if so, what insect is employed in the operation. 

 On my friend Dr. H. visiting Illawarra, I desired him to make 

 the necessary observations, as the Eiipomatia was abundant in that 

 district, and the only insect he found upon it was a small brown 

 Curculio " (3). 



In Curtis's "Botanical Magazine" (Vol. 81, t. 4848), E. 

 Bennetti is figured and described under the name of E. laurina. 

 The text says :— " The flower then, as seen in the figure, consists 

 of a turbinate green receptacle, on the thickened edge of which 

 the numerous stamens are arranged in many series, of which the 

 outer are antheriferous, consisting of a broad subulate filament, 

 with a linear cell on each margin, opening longitudinally; all the 

 inner stamens ai'e abortive, large, petaloid, obovate, yellow stained 

 with orange or blood-colour at the base, especially the inner ones, 

 and have exactly the appearance of a many-petalled corolla, of 

 which the outer ones spread so as to cover and conceal the perfect 

 stamens, while the inner ones are connivent, and almost conceal 

 the ovaries. The outer of these petaloid stamens have the disc 

 beset with conspicuous, stipitate globose glands, and the margin 

 with stellated hairs, while the rest have both on the disc and the 

 margin, stipitate glands. In Mr. Brown's plant, the petaloid 

 abortive stamens are small and connivent, much shorter than the 

 spreading fertile stamens, and destitute of the remarkable glands 

 and stellated hairs " (4). 



These are the only references I have been able to find to the 

 peculiar structure of the flower, apart from descriptions in Fl. 

 Aust. and Fr. Phy. It is figured in the Atlas to Brown's Botany 

 of Terra Australis, t. 2, but I have not seen the figure. 



