METHODS OF FERTILISATION. 563 
strong scent, and plentiful supply of honey. I have observed 
some trees near my residence, and found they are very much 
visited by butterflies, hive and other bees, beetles, flies, and thrips. 
The small green frog (Hyla phyllochroa), recognised the value of 
the plants as a feeding ground, for I saw numbers among the 
leaves on every tree. Among the Lepidoptera observed feeding on 
the honey were Hypochrysops ignita, H. hecalius, Pyrameis itea, 
P. Kershawii, and several of the Hesperide. All the trees I 
observed, bore fruit abundantly, the flowering season being 
December, and the drupes ripening the following May. 
CONVOLVYULACE, 
Convolvulus marginatus, Poir.—'The flowers are small, and do 
not open very widely ; they do not close entirely at night, and 
last two or three days. The colour is white, with no lines of colour 
as honey-guides. There is a ring of greenish-yellow glands at the 
base of the ovulary which secrete a small quantity of honey. The 
anthers dehisce laterally, or slightly introrsely ; they bend over the 
stigma, which is almost at the same level. The bases of the 
filaments are broad with trichomes at the edge, which interlock, 
and so cut off small creeping insects from the honey.  Self- 
fertilisation seems to be the rule, as the stigma is thickly coated 
with pollen from the time the flower opens, and unless removed 
by insects, this must fertilise the plant. It bears seed freely, and 
I have not seen any insects visit it. 
AROIDEX, 
Gymnostachys anceps, R.Br.—The bisexual flowers grow in a 
close spike out of a small green spathe. Several spikes grow on 
one stem. The anthers are four in each flower, and are in opposite 
pairs. The flowers are protogynous, as the stigma emerges first, 
and is then, as far as I can judge, mature. Then the anthers 
appear and dehisce, but not simultaneously. It would seem as if 
the flower must be self-fertilised, or fertilised from pollen drop- 
ping from anthers higher up on the spike. Certainly it is not 
often that fruitlets are found on every flower; but, as they are 
very easily broken off at any time, that circumstance alone is not 
sufficient to judge from. The spikes are much frequented by 
spiders, and I have repeatedly noticed pollen on both the spiders 
and the web. I have also very often seen ladybirds travelling 
up and down the spikes, but was not able to make out their 
object in doing so. Flowers and fruit may be found almost all 
the year round, but the great period of production is the spring 
months. 
