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OBSERVATIONS ON THE POLLINATION OF DAR- 

 WIXIA FASCICULARIS Iludge. [N.O. Myrtace.^.]. 



By Agnes A. Brewster. 



(Plate Hx.) 



The late Mr. E. Havilaiul, in a paper published in the Proceed- 

 ings of this Society, for 1884, Vol. ix., p. 67, dealt with the general 

 structure, and the life-history of this plant; and my paper is 

 intended to add some additional notes to his obserYations. The low 

 shrubs flourish in sandstone-country, in exposed, sunny situations. 

 The narrow, crowded leaYcs are well fitted for such conditions, for 

 a cross-section of the leaf examined under the microscope shows 

 that it has a thick layer of cuticle, which gives the stomates a 

 sunken position. The palisade-tissue extends all round the leaf, 

 and thus, with the aid of the cuticle, too rapid transpiration is 

 prevented. There are two vascular strands in the centre of the 

 leaf, embedded in colourless parenchyma. 



Mr. Haviland described the flower-clusters, and the general 

 structure of the flower. In the red clusters, the corollas of the 

 flowers are white, except the lobes at the apex, which are red. 

 There are ten stamens, with globular anthers, which dehisce by 

 two pores. These alternate with ten staminodes. 



I have noted, on microscopic examination of the corolla, that 

 there are oil-glands dotted over the free lobes; and it is probably 

 the evaporation of the volatile oils in these glands which gives the 

 strong, peculiar perfume given out by^the flowers in the sunshine. 

 On crushing the foliage-leaves in the hand, there is a strong odour 

 of rather oily eau-de-cologne. 



Mr. Haviland says that, of a hundred of its flowers, ninety-five 

 never open. I have noticed that every flower opens in the early 

 stage of the flower, some remaining open for a longer period than 

 others, but all the flowers close again in the later and longer stage 



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