22 A NEW ZEALAND NATURALIST S CALENDAR. 



though the latter are usually more slender, and also more 

 highly coloured. 



Let us look at these flowers. They are always placed on 

 the lower side of the branch ; whatever their position may 

 be primarily, their stalks curve in such a manner as to bring 



Fuchsia excorticata. 



them to the under-side. In the cultivated species, which 

 are all of South American origin, this pendulous character 

 is usually more pronounced, and in both cases it is associated 

 with the mode in which the flowers are cross-fertilised by 

 honey birds. In most flowers the calyx is a protective 



