547 



Number of Stamens. 



Bentham (B.F1. iii. 185) speaks of "stamens numerous, in several series, free 

 or very rarely very shortly united at the base into 4 clusters." The only specific 

 references he makes, so far as I see, are : " Exceedingly numerous," E. gomphocephala, 

 and " very numerous," E. orhi folia. 



Mueller ("' Eucalyptographia "), in defining the genus, speaks of the stamens 

 as " very numerous." I do not find any references under species. Obviously the 

 flowers of some species have more stamens than those of others, apparently connected 

 with the thickness of the filaments or the size of the flowers (e.g., E. macrocarpa), but 

 I have made no count, and I do not know anyone who has. 



Pollen. 



In pay " Forest Flora of New South Wales," Part LXIV, pp. 188-9, I have some 

 notes on pollen in Eucalyptus, which show that very little has been published on the 

 subject. In addition to the illustrations of Pollen-grains in Edgeworth's work, see 

 those in Kerner and Oliver II, fig. 217, &c. and it is charming to read the chapters in 

 that work under the headings of " Pollen," " Protection of Pollen," " Dispersion of 

 Pollen by Animals." "Allurements of Animals with the view to the dispersion of 

 Pollen." 



" Although they possessed very imperfect means of observation, our predecessors 

 were nevertheless struck by the variety of the pollen grains. Adanson, who pushed 

 his mania for classification so far as to produce sixty -five, and who based them on the 

 first things which struck him, even the smell and taste of plants, did not omit to form 

 a classification based on the configiiration of the .pollen." Adanson, Families des 

 Plantes. Paris, 1763, preface, p. 286 (Pouchy, p. 276). 



No doubt the matter will attract the attention of a botanist skilled in the use 

 of the microscope, in due course. To what extent the pollen-grains of Eucalyptu 8 

 display variation, and indeed what are their sizes, shapes, and sculpture, we are almost 

 entirelv ignorant. 



FILAMENT. 



Position in Bud. 



Bentham (B.F1. iii) does not frequently refer to the above, but Mueller 

 (" Eucalyptographia ") does. I quote Bentham' s references : — 



E. alfina. — Much inflected. 



E. redunca. — More or less inflected in the bud. 



E. tereticornis. — More or less inflected in the bud, but sometimes only very shortly so at the ends. 



E. macrocarpa. — Connivent (converging) and inflected at the end. 



E. sideropMoia — Hardly inflected. 



