BY E. HAVILAND. G'J 



naturalists of our time ; but indeed, even confining my remarks to 

 Darivinia fascicularis, I may say that it is a plant possessing great 

 interest to all engaged in the study of vegetable life. In my last 

 paper I brought under your notice a plant, Myrsine variabilis, 

 which appeared to me to have its flowers always closed to ensure 

 self-fertilization. Here, -however, I speak of a plant whose flowers, 

 or nearly all of them, appears to be always closed to prevent it. 

 There is, however, this difference between them, that in the 

 former case, both anthers and stigma are shut in the corolla 

 together ; while in the latter, the anthers are shut in, while the 

 stigma is shut out, so that there can be no communication between 

 them. Here and there, however, in D. fascicularis, an open 

 flower is found without this separation of the fertilizing organs ; 

 but I think I am within bounds when I say that of a hundred of 

 its flowers, ninety-five never open. T do not make this assertion 

 from the inspection of a few flowers, but as the result of long and 

 cai"eful watching. Indeed, it was not until I had been studying 

 the plant for some time that I could find any open flowers ; and 

 so under the impression that all were closed, having the anthers and 

 stigma completely separated, I was at a loss to conceive how the 

 plant was fertilized, Thinking that perhaps the corolla opened 

 either during very bright sunlight, or perhaps as jEnothera, and 

 many other flowers, rn the early evening or at night, I have 

 during this summer marked many flowers, and have watched them 

 at all hours during both bright and cloudy days, and have also 

 made special visits to Coogee at night for that purpose ; but in no 

 instance have I found flowers open except in the very few cases 

 where they were so from the first. In one instance I marked a 

 branch bearing three heads, consisting in all of forty-two flowers. 

 Of these none were open ; none of the styles projected more than 

 a quarter of an inch beyond the closed corolla, shewing that the 

 flowers were but little beyond the condition of buds. In four 

 days I again visited this plant ; none of the flowers were open, but 

 the styles all projected more than an inch beyond the corolla. 

 Nearly all the stigmas were mature and ready to i - eceive pollen. 

 In a week I made another inspection, finding the flowers still all 



