108 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



plants. Mr. G. M. Thompson, F.L.S., of Otago, New Zealand, in an able 

 paper on the " Fertilisation of Flowering Plants " contributed to the 

 k< Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute," says : 

 " 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 

 in from two to twenty-four hours, those nearest tending 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 many 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 experiments with insects 

 I placed four full-sized aphides on each leaf, 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 in 

 strong healthy leaves ; very young leaves seemed sickened by an overdose 

 of meat, while older ones sometimes did not begin to act for two or three 

 days. The digestive powers of the Drosera appear similar to those of the 

 human being, and, like ourselves, they suffer sometimes from dyspepsia 

 when treated to indigestible food. 



A well-known plant, the ' Manuka,' or Tea Tree, is found covering 

 thousands of acres of the poor lands of the colony ; a bush-like plant 

 flowering freely all the year round ; a flower somewhat like the English 

 Hawthorn — mostly white — but others are found of a pinker shade. 



This paper will not be complete without a description of the ' Rata,' of 

 somewhat similar appearance to the 1 Pohutahawa.' The ' Rata ' blossoms 

 in January, and the hillsides in the northern districts seem all ablaze with 

 the showy crimson flowers. It often grows to a height of 50 or 60 feet. 

 The plant commences as a climber, creeping . in rope-like steins up the 

 trunks of forest trees, which it gradually squeezes to death. 



It may not be out of place here to mention a curiosity in vegetable or 

 animal life — call it what you will. It is a caterpillar at one time and like 

 a fungus at another. Captain Hutton says that when in the caterpillar 

 stage it goes down into the earth with the intention of turning into a 

 chrysalis. There a fungus, taking possession of it, fills its body in every 

 part, from the head to the claws, with vegetable matter, and the insect, 

 though maintaining its original shape, is now a plant. When the 

 fungus has completed its task of eating up the caterpillar, it sends a stalk 

 up out of the ground. On this there are spore-cases. Above the ground 

 the fungus looks like a small Bulrush, with a small bulb-shaped point, 

 and it is conjectured that this gives off spores which are devoured by the 

 caterpillars, and in turn the spore germinates in the body of the insect, 

 and converts the animal body into that of a plant. 



There are many other varieties of flowers, many of the most beautiful 

 character, which I should like to touch upon did time permit. I should 

 be pleased to put any Fellow in the way to acquire seeds or plants of 

 New Zealand native flowers, the majority of which may be grown in the 

 sub-tropical garden and a large number could be planted in the open. I 



