158 A NEW ZEALAND NATURALIST'S CALENDAR. 



fragrant, it was noticeable that a considerable quantity of 

 nectar was secreted between the base of the column (which 

 is made of the joined stamens and style) and the fleshy lip 

 of the flower, and this caused me to look more closely into 

 their structure. The four bundles of pollen are united into 

 two almost globular masses, which are attached by a band 

 to a broad flat disc. If this is removed from the anther, 

 which is at the top of the column, it at once commences to 

 contract, and thus causes the pollen masses to be depressed 

 to a nearly horizontal position. In Darwin's Fertilisation 



Claytonia australasica, 



of Orchids will be found an account of a similar structure 

 in the British Orchis mascula. The time taken by this 

 movement in our species is about 10 seconds. If the 

 pollinia were attached to the proboscis of a small insect, 

 they would on their first withdrawal from the anther be in 

 such a position as to strike a similar portion of the next 

 flower visited ; but this is obviated by the depression of 

 their stalk, so that in the short interval of time mentioned 

 they are so placed as to project into the deep and slightly 

 two-lobed cavity of the stigma. If one watches bees 



