G. M. Thomson. — On the Fertilization of Fluicerlnfj Plants. 261 



small flowers, but they are apparently strongly sweet-scented, and secrete 

 honey. The stamens dehisce before the stigma is matured, so that their 

 fertilization is probably aided by insects. 



Nat. Ord. Droserace^. 



The extremely interesting genus Drosera is represented by six species in 

 New Zealand, all of which occur in this island, and of which I have 

 gathered four. I regret having been unable to get them in sufficiently good 

 flower to notice their mode of fertilization. They do not seem to open their 

 flowers very freely, which fact alone has often led me to think that they are 

 chiefly self-fertilized. 



All our species catch and digest insects, and in fact are known in some 

 districts by the name of " Fly-catchers." 



D. stmiopetala, which I have gathered at Port Pegasus, Stewart Island, 

 where it is abundant, seems to be remarkably well fitted for this work, the 

 hairs on its spathulate leaves being unusually long, and bearing very large 

 glands. 



D. arcturi, which grows in bogs on the summit of Maungatua, seems in 

 its native habitat seldom to catch insects, but this is attributed by me to 

 the fact of its being often submerged in wet weather. The leaves are from 

 one to three inches long, and rather narrow- spathulate ; the marginal 

 glands are on pedicels about '05 inch long, those on the surface of the 

 blade being much shorter, and interspersed with glandular papillae. These 

 glands all showed the aggregation of the protoplasm as mentioned in 

 Darwin's " Carnivorous Plants," when acted on by dilute ammoniacal solu- 

 tions. 



I experimented on various leaves by supplying them with small frag- 

 ments of raw meat and insects. I did not weigh the portions of meat, as I 

 was not particular as to the exact results, but selected them of various 

 sizes, from the size of a pin's-head to pieces as large as a full-sized grain of 

 wheat. In each case the meat was seized by the tentacles (or marginal 

 hairs) in from two to twenty-four hours, those nearest bending first towards 

 it, and by the latter time the colour was generally bleached out of it. The 

 process of absorption lasted from four days to as much as eight for the 

 larger pieces, the meat all the time having a pearly-white appearance, and 

 being bathed in clear liquid, which sometimes accumulated to such an 

 extent as to run down the blade and petiole. In experimenting with insects 

 I placed four full-sized rose Aphides on each leaf, and found that on an 

 average they were completely disposed of in about three days, usually not a 

 trace of them remaining. Only those glands in the immediate vicinity of 

 the insects appeared to be concerned in the process. These results were 

 obtained on strong, healthy leaves. Very young leaves seemed easily 



