274 Transactions. — Botany. 



than the preceding, though probably connected with it by a complete grada- 

 tion of intermediate forms, shows the same tendency to abortion and sepa- 

 ration of the reproductive organs. Hermaphrodite and pistillate forms are 

 both found, honey is also found in the flowers, and these are usually pro- 

 duced in such quantity as to be very readily seen. 



Nat. Ord. Epacrideje. 



Six genera of this typically Australian order occur in New Zealand, and 

 four of these grow in this neighbourhood. 



Cyathodes acerosa has extremely minute, solitary flowers, difficult of 

 detection by sight, and destitute of smell. They contain honey however, 

 and are distinctly proterandrous, so that they must probably be visited by 

 small insects. 



Leucopogon frazeri is a most abundant plant on dry ground, and is appa- 

 rently solely entomophilous. I have found its flowers invariably hermaph- 

 rodite, but yet so contrived as to require insect-aid to ensure fertilization. 

 The corolla, which always stands quite erect, is in the form of a long cylin- 

 drical tube contracted at the throat ; its lobes and most of the inner surface 

 of the tube are thickly clothed with hairs. The style is very long and slender 

 and bears a rounded stigmatic head, which projects a little above the throat 

 of the corolla and is very viscid. Immediately below it are the five anthers, 

 nearly filling up the whole of the tube. These are nearly sessile, and one- 

 celled, and their pollen, after escaping from them, lies exposed on their inner 

 side, and almost in contact with the top of the style. The pollen-grains are 

 comparatively large and circular, and cohere readily together. The flowers 

 are very sweet-scented, and the base of the corolla contains a large secretion 

 of honey. It seems almost impossible that self-fertilization can take place, 

 while the manifest attractions for insects lead us to the conclusion that their 

 agency is necessary for the production of seed. The only insects which could 

 reach the honey, however, are those furnished with a long slender proboscis, 

 such as the Lepidoptera, for not only is the corolla-tube lined thickly with 

 hairs, but the style itself is also furnished with these impediments. Between 

 the walls of the corolla, however, and the style, are five minute apertures 

 through which a moth's proboscis might be inserted to reach the honey, but, 

 as these apertures lie right over the anthers, it would be almost impossible 

 for the insect to reach the coveted sweets at the bottom of the flower with- 

 out touching and removing some of the pollen. The position of the capitate 

 stigma also, guarding the entrance of the flower, with its drop of viscid secre- 

 tion is such that contact with anything adhering to the proboscis of an insect 

 would almost certainly take place. I do not think insects with short trunks 

 could reach the honey. I, on one occasion, found a minute beetle in the 

 tube, but it was drowned in the honey at the bottom. 



