BY J. J. FLETCHER. 879 



primitive character; and that it has been derived from a dicoty- 

 ledonous ancestor by the splitting of the two seed-leaves. 



One may perhaps venture to express the hope that Western 

 Australian naturalists will take up the investigation of seedlings 

 of the 24 species restricted to that State, only six of which appear 

 in the Baron's list, and two of these were represented by single 

 fruits. It would also be very interesting if a New Zealand 

 botanist would report the results of the examination of 100 seed- 

 lings of P. Toro, because this species, according to the Baron, 

 produces both dicotylous and polycotylous embryos, a condition 

 which has not yet been met with in any Australian species. 



I avail myself of the opportunity of appending figures of three 

 young seedlings of Nuytsia floribunda R.Br. [N.O. Loranthacece] 

 from life, because I consider that this plant must be relegated to 

 the same category as Persoonia; and no illustrations of these 

 interesting young forms have yet appeared, as far as I can 

 ascertain. 



The first mention of polycotyledony in this species is to be 

 found in a communication dated June, 1839, from James 

 Drummond to Sir William Hooker, and published in Hooker's 

 Journal of Botany (Yol. ii. p. 346, 1840). Drummond says — 

 " The trunk of the JVuytsia is from two to four feet in diameter; 

 its leaves are like those of Taxus elongata, and the seeds resemble 

 Rhubarb; they vegetate with several cotyledons like the pine." 

 About two years later, Mr. H. p J. C] Bidwill independently dis- 

 covered the fact, and sent a short communication about it, dated 

 July 5, 1841, to London * He says — "In the government garden 

 at Sidney is a single plant of Nuytsia,\ which flowers every year, 



* Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. viii. , p.439, 1842. 

 + Local traditions relating to the history of this particular plant are at 

 variance. The following quotation from a letter of Allan Cunningham's to 

 his friend, Mr. Heward, seems to leave no room for doubt — " How fine 

 Grevillea robxista (forty feet high) is at this time in the Botanic Garden, 

 and at Mr. Macleay's, at Elizabeth Bay ! it is a mass of orange blossom : 

 . and that rarest of rarities, Nuytsia of K.Br., is on the verge of a 

 splendid flowering. It was brought to us by Baxter from Western Aus- 

 tralia, and is the only specimen on our side of the continent." (Hooker's 

 Lond. Journ. Bot. i. p.286, 1842). 



