574 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [N.S., XVIII, 
The flower of the Mohwa is of a high type and it also shows 
a further advance in its floral mechanism for it ensures cross- 
pollination by an ingenious and fairly simple method with the 
flower actually remaining closed. This type of mechanism has 
probably been derived comparatively recently from open flow- 
ers, as open flowers are found in all the other genera studied, 
belonging to the same Natural Order. 
EXPLANATION OF PLATES. 
Plate I. 
The figures illustrating this note are selected from a 
number of sketches and drawings taken from living specimens 
either on the tree or immediately after being collected. 
Few-flowered clusters had to be chosen and not the more 
typical many-flowered and densely crowded bunches as it was 
easier to follow the growth of the flower from day to day while 
still growing on the tree in the less crowded bunches. 
The time at which the drawing of the flower in the various 
stages was made and other points of interest are noted in the 
following descriptions :— 
Fie, 1.—Rough sketch made from bunch actually grow- 
ing on the tree, and observed through field-glasses, showing 
young buds as seen on the morning of the 14th March. 
Fic. 2.—Rough sketch of the same bunch on the morning 
of the 16th March, which shows the buds taking up the 
drooping position but with no styles projecting. 
Fie. 3.—Sketch of the same bunch in Figs. 1 and 2, drawn 
on the morning of the 19th March. It shows the buds more 
pendant, and in two or three of the buds the styles appeared 
to be protruding slightly as far as could be made out with the 
glasses. 
Fic. 4.—Rough sketch of two bunches on the tree with 
buds older than those shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. Sketched on 
the morning of the 12th March. Three buds on the right 
bunch had styles protruding. Qn the left bunch one of the 
flowers was beginning to “ripen.” On the 13th March two 
more flowers on the left bunch were becoming fleshy. 
1G.5.—The same two bunches as shown in Fig. 4, but 
sketched on the 14th March. The left bunch had four flowers 
with ripe corollas while the right bunch had two. On the 
15th March only one ripe flower was left on the right bunch. 
On the 19th March two of the younger buds of the bunch on 
the right had become fleshy and had styles protruding. 
Fig. 6.—Sketch of two buds on a flowering branch as they 
appeared on the 2nd April. ; ae 
Fic. 7.—The same buds sketched on the 5th April. But 
