262 PLANTS OF NEW ZEALAND 



Viola Cunninghamii (Cunningham's Violet). 



Stem short, with a woody rootstock. Leaves tufted ; peduncles longer than 



the leaves. Both islands, in damp situations. Flowers white. Produces 



cleistogamic flowers in the lowlands. 



The New Zealand violets are practically scentless ; or, if they have any odour 



at all, it is that of musk. The situation in which they are often found is well 



described in the following stanza : 



" Here, in this bend of the creek, in the rushes, and long lush grasses, 

 Wild white violets nestle, and musk in the water weeds : 

 Here there is stillness and shelter, for the wandering wind as it passes 

 Is caught in the tall green flax, and dies in the rushes and reeds." 



INSECT POLLINATION IN THE GENUS VIOLA. 



The method of cross-pollination in the genus Viola is well 

 worthy of study. It is best illustrated by reference to the 

 garden Pansy (V. tricolor) ; for the flowers of the cultivated 

 varieties of this plant are larger than those of any of the wild 

 ispecies, and the parts thus admit of readier examination. 

 The description here given applies, therefore, to the common 

 forms of the pansy, but it is also correct with slight 

 modifications for the other species of the genus. The flower 

 is unsymmetrical, and one of the petals is provided with a long 

 hollow spur. The anthers are prolonged into a hood, or 

 projection, which surmounts them. This forms part of the 

 connective (i.e. the part joining two anther-cells together). In 

 two of the stamens, the connectives are also produced 

 backward into long narrow arms, terminating in the spur of 

 the corolla. The stamens do not, as in most flowers, open 

 outward, but the pollen escapes on the inside into the ring 

 formed by the hoods of the anthers, and falls thence on to a 

 brush-like series of hairs on the lower petal. The pistil has a 

 short, somewhat curved style, with the stigma in a hollow on 

 the side of its rounded head. Just below the stigmatic 

 surface is a small platform, or lid, the function of which will 

 be presently clear. 



The two long arms of the anthers have honey-glands on 

 their base ; and the honey secreted by them is collected in the 

 spur of the corolla. An insect endeavouring to get at this 



