DECEMBER. 23 



organ, the corolla being the coloured and attractive portion, 

 but in Fuchsias the calyx has become chiefly attractive, and 

 the petals tend to become reduced in size correspondingly. 

 In the South American species both whorls are brightly 

 but usually differently coloured, and it is in part the 

 contrast between them which causes the flowers to be so 

 conspiciiously bright. But in our common bush form the 

 petals are reduced to little dark purple scales which stand 

 between the divisions of the calyx, while in the small 

 creeping FucJisia procronbens, from the Great Barrier 

 Island commonly cultivated here as a pot plant on 

 account of its inability to stand the soxithern winter 

 the petals have disappeared altogether. Protruding from 

 the mouth of the calyx are eight stamens, the anthers of 

 which all open at the same time and display their little 

 masses of bright blue pollen. It may be noted here that 

 blue is not a common colour in pollen ; it acts in this 

 instance as an additional attraction to a flower which has 

 evidently lost brilliancy of hue in other parts. Hanging 

 out from the centre of the flower is a long reddish style, 

 ending in a rather large greenish or yellowish stigma, 

 which is often seen to be smeared with blue pollen. At 

 first sight the flower seems to be fitted for self -fertilisation, 

 as if the pollen could drop readily on to its own stigma, yet 

 a little examination shows that this is not the case. In the 

 first place, flowers do not produce nectar for nothing they 

 are constructed on the Bismarckian principle "do ut des" 

 and if the dilated nectaries of these Fuchsias contain much 

 sweet fluid, it is as a bait to the korimakos and tuis,* which 

 are needed to fertilise them. Then the pollen does not drop 

 out of the anther cells, and you cannot make it do so 

 by shaking. If a little of it be mounted in a drop of oil and 

 examined under the microscope, it will be seen that all the 

 minute grains are tied together by fine threads so that 

 they do not fall away from each other. It is a very easy 

 thing to watch korimakos at work on the flowers, for if the 

 watcher keeps quite still and has a little patience the birds 



*The Korimako or Bell Bird (Anthoniis melanura). The Tui or 

 Parson Bird (Prosthemadera Nova Zealanditf). 



