igo 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XXII. No. 557 



lowlands are chiefly inconspicuous. There is a beautiful 

 flora on the mountains above the bush-line, i, e., from 

 3-5,000 feet, but with the exception of a very few 

 striking species like Ranunculus Lyallii, — the so-called 

 Mt. Cook Lily, — most of the flowers are only conspicuous 

 by their aggregation; and nearly all such are white, with, 

 in a few cases, a tinge of blue or lilac. The individual 

 flowers of Pygmcea, Helopliyllum, Donatia, etc., are small, 

 but when one comes on hummocks of from one to three 

 feet in diameter, with the flowering branches so densely 

 crowded that the blossoms are in contact with one 

 another, then such species may well be considered to be 

 conspicuous. Some of the most singular of such aggre- 

 gated flowers occur in the composite genus Baoulia. The 

 individual plants are small, and are only a few inches in 

 height, while their branches grow in dense masses, each 

 ending in a small head of florets surrounded by pure 

 white bracts, giving them a daisy-like appearance. When 

 in flower on the mountain side, such masses are, when 

 viewed at a distance, readily taken for sheep, and 

 shepherds, unless provided with a good field-glass, may 

 be, and often are, easily deceived; hence the popular 

 name of Vegetable Sheep has been given to some of the 

 si^ecies, especially to 11. viammillaris. 



Though conspicuous insects are rare, and the two orders 

 already referred to are somewhat j)oorly represented, yet 

 the number of flowering plants which depend on insects 

 for fertilization is very considerable. Fully one-fourth of 

 the total number are entomophilous, to judge by the fact 

 that they are more or less conspicuous, and (or) are fra- 

 grant, and (or) possess nectar-glands; and of the 

 hermaphrodite species which may or may not be insect- 

 fertilised, about 37 per cent exhibit decided j)rotandry, 

 their stamens maturing before the pistils. This fact is 

 almost always associated with insect-fertilization, while 

 protogynous plants on the other hand are nearly always 

 anemophilous or wind-fertilized. 



The chief agents in fertilizing our indigenous flowers 

 are flies and flower-haunting beetles. It is somewhat un- 

 fortunate from a biologist's point of view that the natural 

 conditions have been very much obscured during the last 

 twenty or thirty years by the introduction and very rapid 

 increase of insectivorous birds. Many of the large hairy 

 flies which used to be most abundant formerly are now 

 comparatively rare, while the clearing and burning of the 

 surface growth over great part of the country has thinned 

 out the beetles and other insects to an amazing extent, 

 not only by actually burning the individuals themselves 

 and their eggs and larvse, but also by destroying their 

 breeding ground. 



A few of the largest of the native flowers are fertilized 

 by birds; the agents in this work being the Tui or Parson 

 Bird, the Korimako or Bell Bird (Honey bird), the Kaka 

 or large bush parrot, and the two or three species of par- 

 roquets. Fuchsias, Eatas {Metrosideros), Flax {Phormium), 

 etc., seem to be quite dependent on the birds. In recent 

 times the imported bees, both hive and humble {Bombus) 

 have taken to visiting several of the native flowers. 



A feature of interest, regarding which I have no adequate 

 explanation to offer, is the occurrence of a very large 

 proportion of unisexual flowers in the flora. About forty 

 five per cent of the known flowering plants are unisexual, 

 and of these a great niimber are dioecious. Several of 

 these dicecious sj)ecies are inconspicuous, such as the 

 large liliaceous Astelias, and the Mistletoe (Tupeia 

 antarctica), yet their flowers are most distinctly entomo- 

 philous, being fragrant and nectariferous. It is a still 

 more remarkable fact that in the outlying islands of the 

 Lord Auckland and Campbell groups, which are distinctly 

 oceanic, in the sense that they are isolated from all larger 

 masses of land by a deep ocean,there are several re- 



markably fine flowering plants, such as the Composites 

 Pleurophylhim speciosum and criniferum, and Celmisia verni- 

 cofia; Oentiana cerina and the liliaceous Anihericum Rossii. 

 The last-named is dicecious, and the others are most prob- 

 ably protandrous (judging only by the analogy of allied 

 forms), but all have very beautiful and conspicuous flowers, 

 and all are confined to these islands. Again in the Chatham 

 Islands occurs the very fine for-get-me-not, — miscalled the 

 Chatham Island Lily, — {Myosotidium nobile), retaining its 

 beautiful pale-blue colors, as if evidently to attract insects. 

 This plant, however, is self-fertile, but this characteristic 

 must be an acquired one of comparatively late date. 

 The flying insects of all these islands have never been in- 

 vestigated, yet it must be borne in mind that all the islands 

 are of small size and are subject to strong winds; in- 

 deed the antarctic groups are swept by south west gales 

 during considerable portions of the year. The question 

 naturally arises, How are the flowers fertilized, — especially 

 when dicecious as in Anthericum? 



These are a few of the interesting points which botan- 

 ists in New Zealand have met with during the few years 

 since the insular flora began to be closelj' stadied. The 

 questions Avhich arise are perhaps not so remarkable as 

 those which the zoologist meets with, but they bear on the 

 same ground, and must be studied as closely in order that 

 true views of the past biological history of these islands 

 and of the geographical distribution of its organisms may 

 be arrived at. 



THE AMERICAN FOLX-LOEE SOCIETY. 



The fifth annual meeting of the American Folk-Lore 

 Society was held in Montreal on Sept. 13th aud 14th. 



In the absence of Mr. H. Hale, of Clinton, Ontario, the 

 president, and of Prof. Alcee Fortier, of New Orleans, 

 the first vice-president, the task of presiding devolved upon 

 Prof. J. P. Penhallov,r, of McGill University, Montreal. 



The forenoon of the first day was devoted to the meet- 

 ing of council, the rejjort of which showed steady growth 

 in membership and fair results in study, collection and 

 contributions to the literature of the subject. The Jour- 

 nal of American Folk-Lore is now ajDproaching the conclu- 

 sion of its sixth volume, has proved both a stimulus to 

 inquiry and a thesaurus of gathered data, curious and 

 valuable. It is hoped that the scheme for the publica- 

 tion of sj)ecial memoirs will shortly yield the first fruits 

 of what may one day become a rich harvest. The mem- 

 bers number more than six hundred, and there are flour- 

 ishing local branches at New Orleans, Boston, Montreal 

 and New York. 



In the afternoon Professor Penhallow, as president of 

 the Montreal Branch, delivered an address of welcome to 

 the visiting members of the society. After touching on 

 what had already been achieved in the working of the 

 great northern field, he indicated several paths of folk- 

 lore research that could be prosecuted best among the . 

 populations of Canada and called attention to many points 

 of interest in the district of which Montreal was the 

 centre. 



Mr. W. W. Newell, general secretary of the society 

 and editor of the Journal, expressed the pleasure that it 

 afforded him to be again in Montreal. Hardly eighteen 

 months ago he had shared in the organization of the local 

 branch, and was naturally pleased to see it prospering. 

 Coming direct from Chicago and the wondrous White City, 

 which was "all mankind's epitome," it was a relief to sur- 

 vey a scene of repose and order and cleanliness, while 

 still acknowledging the fascinations of the Fair, with its 

 unique opportunities for seeing the world's diversities of 

 speech, belief, costume and usage. 



Professor Penhallow, having asked Mr, K, Boissevain to 



