9G ME. r. W. KEEBLE ON 



Many of the Cingalese species flower all the year round, and when I mention that 8 

 species which do so grow in the hills, and that of these hills Blanford states " the only 

 season that can be called fine is restricted to the first 4 or 4J months of the year, and 

 even in these it rains on one day in 3 or 4"*, it will, I think, he conceded that a 

 protection of pollen against rain is by no means unnecessary. 



Eoxburgh, in his 'Flora Indica,' and Kurz, in 'Forest Flora of British Burmah,' both 

 distinctly mention, in describing various species, that some, e. g. Loranthus Scurrula, 

 flower during the wet season, and that others flower all the year round. 



Hence I conclude that this " exploding mechanism " has the highly important function 

 of protecting the pollen from rain, and that an additional advantage is gained in that a 

 more specialized relation between bird and flower is enforced. 



The "reason " why flowering occurs during the wet months lies probably in the fact 

 that the seeds will only germinate in moist air; at all events I have found that in moist 

 air the hypocotyls reach their host-branch in a few days, whereas in dry air two weeks 

 are often insufiicient. Hence it may be that many Loranthus species have acquired the 

 habit of flowering in the wet season in order that their seeds may germinate rapidly, and 

 on this view the special pollen protection is of no little interest. 



Note. — After the foregoing account of the fertilization of the flower was written, a 

 paper by Mr. Maurice S. Evans appeared in * Nature ' (Jan. 3, 1895) dealing with the fer- 

 tilization of the flowers of L. Kraussimius, Meissn., and L. Dregei, Eckl. & Zeyh., parasitic 

 Loranths of S. Africa (Natal). My results, on the whole, confirm those of Mr. Evans. 

 He describes the " explosive mechanism " and its absolute dependence on the blows of 

 bird visitors (in Natal the visitor is a sun-bird, Cinnyris olivaceus). In one important 

 point do our accounts differ. Mr. Evans finds that the anthers are emptied of pollen by 

 the explosion, whereas my conclusion, as above stated, is that though pollen is jerked 

 out, some is left " for future use." Mr. Evans's observation on L. Dregei tends to 

 confirm his view, for in that species the anthers are (by the explosion) " broken sharp 

 off and fly off into space with great violence, parting with their pollen as they go " 

 (' Nature,' vol. li. no. 1314, p. 236). 



II. — Mode or Disteibltion of the Seeds. 



I propose in this section to give a short account of the way in which the seeds of some 

 members of the Loranthacese are dispersed. Engler and Prantl thus summarize what is 

 known of the distribution : — " The stickiness (of the viscin) enables some seeds, falling 

 from branch to branch, to become attached ; on the other hand, birds bite up the fruits 

 and throw away the seed which is surrounded by the viscid layer" f. The same authorities 

 further state that seeds often pass unharmed through the gut of birds and may then 

 germinate. 



It may at once be stated that my investigations confirm much of what has just been 



* Blanford, ♦ The Climate and Weather of India, Ceylon, and Burmah.' 

 t Engler and Prantl, ' Die natiirlicheu Pflanzenfamilien,' Teil iii. 



