G. M. Thomson, — On the Fertilization of Flowering Plants. 281 



sized Daphnia^SbS also obtained in one; the body was reduced to a brownish 

 mass, but the bivalve shell and portions of the limbs were intact. The 

 Diatoms and other minute organisms are probably present not as prey, but 

 as commensalists or messmates, taking advantage of the rich food obtainable 

 in the bladders to take up their residence in them. 



Of the four species of Utricularia described in the Handbook Fl. N. Z., 

 three have their bladders borne on the rhizome, while U. jn-otrusa has float- 

 ing stems and capillary leaves like the English species. A fifth species has 

 been mentioned by Mr. Kirk,* but apparently not described, as occurring in 

 Eotomahana, and having the same arrangement of the bladders on the 

 leaves. 



Nat. Ord. VEEBENACEiE. 



Teucridium parvifolium occvu'S plentifully enough near Dunedin, but I 

 have not examined its flowers. 



Myoporum latum, the only other representative of the order in this part 

 of the island, is also extremely common. This plant produces its flowers 

 chiefly from November to January, but it continues to put out blossoms 

 sparingly for a considerable part of the year. These unseasonable flowers 

 are commonly defective, their anther-cells being destitute of pollen and 

 then' pistil also being more or less aborted. I cannot conceive of Avhat use 

 they are to the plant. The ordinary flowers are white and conspicuous, 

 and produce a little honey. They have little or no scent, and I cannot say 

 whether they are self- fertile or not. The lining of hah's on the lobes of the 

 corolla probably serves to impede small and unsuitable insects from 

 obtaining the honey. 



Nat. Ord. Labiate. 



This large order — the flowers of which present such a variety of con- 

 trivance to ensure cross-fertihzation — is represented by two very small 

 plants in New Zealand, belonging to the genera Mentha and Scutellaria. 

 The latter I have not seen. 



Mentha cimninghamii belongs to a genus in which the corolla does not 

 show the extreme irregularity of typical Labiates. There is a tendency also 

 to dimorphism, which this species among others exhibits, one of the charac- 

 ters given in the " Handbook of the N.Z. Flora," p. 226, being " Stamens 

 included in the corolla-tube of some flowers, exserted in others." I have 

 not, however, noticed this difference. Nor have I noticed any tendency 

 towards production of female as well as hermaphrodite flowers, which pre- 

 vails in some species. The flowers of our species are only slightly irregular; 

 they are, however, proterandrous, strongly sweet-scented, and produce a 

 great amount of honey, and are consequently much visited by insects. 



* " Trans. N. Z. Inst." Vol. V., p. 343. 



36 



