3t> BULLETIN OF WISCONSIN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. VOL, 2. NO. 1. 
EUONYMUS ATROPURPUREUS, JACQ. WAAHOO. 
An account of the pollination of this species, together with a 
review of the literature dealing with the genus Euonymus and 
several of its species, was published by Robertson (3) in 1896. 
This plant is not common in our neighborhood, but it occurs 
in several localities in patches, as for example in a large piece of 
woodland outside of the city limits, north of the Janesville Plank 
Road. In this locality the observations were made on specimens, 
varying in height from 1I/2 to 3 m. 
The dark purple flowers are very numerous, and emit a pecu- 
liar odor, which is quite different from the odor of the flowers of 
our sapromyiophilous species of Smilax, and resembles somewhat 
the smell of sour milk. In size the flowers agree with those from 
Southern Illinois as described by Robertson. The diameter of 
the flat, open flower is 8 mm. Each flower has in the middle a 
dark green, quadrate disc, in the angles of which the stamens are 
situated, while the style with its light green stigma arises from the 
center. Proterandry is well marked. The newly opened flower 
forms a cup, in which the anthers are dehiscent ; later on the dark 
purple lobes of the corolla spread outwardly, and the stigma 
reaches maturity. Honey is secreted on the disc between the bases 
of the stamens. The style and the stamens are very short, hardly 
I mm. in length, and, for this reason, Robertson supposes that the 
feet and proboscides of the insects are the parts, through which 
pollen is mostly transported. Many of the flowers are in a verticad 
position, but spontaneous self-pollination through the falling of 
pollen can hardly be expected, as the stigma becomes receptive 
rather late. 
There were no flesh-flies among the 12 visitors taken by Rob- 
ertson, although, as this author remarks, the disagreeable odor and 
dark purple color ''would probably place it in Delpino's Tipo mel- 
antino, along with Euonymus verrucosus" , suggesting an adapta- 
tion to flesh-flies. 
On six days in June and July of the present year, I have ob- 
served these flowers under very favorable conditions ; the weather 
was hot and clear and the plants were covered with flowers. The 
flowering season extends from June 22 to July 16. 
In the following list 29 species of visitors are recorded, but the 
flowers are poorly attractive to insects, and the small number of 
individuals present contrasted strongly with the mass of flowers. 
(3) Chas. Robertson, Flowers and Insects, Trans, Acad. Sc. St. Louis Vol 
VII, No. 6, pp. 157-9. 
