Gastrolobium Grandiflorum. 147 



motioii caused by chemical action, but points rather to its 

 connection with the process of fecundation. A few hours 

 afterwards all the archegonia had their orifices brown, the 

 motion before it had ceased, but many were filled with a 

 granular mass, which I must regard as the molecules now 

 at rest. 



It is remarkable that the development of the androspores 

 is in general slower than that of the gynospores. Whilst 

 protruding they all contained starch grains. Later, many 

 were filled with cellular substance, which, with iodine, was 

 coloured yellow. The cells on opening emanated either in 

 their entirety and showed a granular content, or, instead of 

 this, the inner parts of the spore had disintegrated into little 

 yellow granules, with remains of the molecules rotating in 

 the orifice of the archegonium. The case, that cells were 

 evacuated similar to those of the moving spiral filaments, 

 was, in the beginning, of rarer occurrence than afterwards. 



The prothallia showed now a rapidly progressing develop- 

 ment Already, after twenty- four hours, it formed numerous 

 radical fibres. Then an excrescence of the prothallia took 

 place into a many-lobed, irregular body, from the depressed 

 vertex of which the archegonium orifice often emanated to 

 considerable height. 



Art. XXXIV. — Notes on Gastrolobium grandiflovum. 

 By Ferdinand Mueller, M.D., F.E.S. 



[Read 18th July, 1864.] 



The poison plant, of which specimens for my inspection 

 were submitted by the Royal Society of Victoria, and 

 which proved so detrimental to the herds and flocks in some 

 places on the Cape River, and on the sources of the Burdekin 

 and Flinders River, is botanically known as Gastrolobium 

 grandiflovum. It is a leguminous bush, several feet high, 

 with orange-yellow flowers, the latter imparting to it a very 

 ornamental aspect. J. Macdouall Stuart, the famous ex- 

 plorer, brought the first specimens from Attack Creek, south 

 of Arnhem's Land, and from these the species was established 

 in the Fragmenta Phytographiaz Australice, iii. 17. It is 

 much to be feared ; that this plant has a wide range through 

 the interior of tropical Australia (though it was not met with 

 on the route of the expedition to which I was attached), and 



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