59 
The flower is borne on a slender erect stalk, which curves 
abruptly a little below the calyx. Thus the axis becomes hori- 
zontal and the corolla forms a protecting hood over the stamens 
and pistil. 
The five stamens though not united are fairly closely packed 
round the pistil. They are of three lengths : the two dorsals are 
shortest, the anterior one longest, and the two laterals inter- 
mediate in length. All are curved towards the corolla. The 
anthers are attached by mere points to the acute apices of the 
stamens, so they can swing freely in all directions. The anther 
of the longest stamen is introrse, those of the shortest extrorse, 
and those of the intermediates, on account of torsion of the 
filament, are transverse. Thus all the anthers face the corolla. 
Their adjacent edges are in contact, so that together they form a 
compact oblong cushion, which stands a little distance in front 
of the central petal. 
The flower opens soon after sunrise, and the anthers dehisce 
an hour or so later. The pistil, a simple awl-shaped structure, 
is now hidden by the stamens. Its style is straight and its stigma 
unripe. Tins is the first stage of flowering. The second stage 
is reached about four days after opening. The anthers have 
now lost their pollen, the stamens fall apart and bend down, 
the style is curved towards the corolla, and the small apical stigma 
(now ripe) occupies the place vacated by the anthers. 
1 first saw the plant in flower about ten years ago. and it was a 
case of “love at first sight” ; but it was not till February, 1906, that 
1 began to seriously study the flower. Since then it has received 
the “ lion’s share. ” of my attention during the early months of 
each year. I have on numerous occasions seen Insects of various 
kinds visiting the flowers. The most frequent visitor is a small 
“ Native Bee,” golden-brown in color and much resembling an 
ant in appearance. This creature ( Exoneura pictifrons by name) 
usually only collects pollen, but I have on several occasions seen 
it crawl into the flower in search of nectar. \V hen pollen collecting 
it naturally only visits first stage flowers, and when seeking 
nectar it does not come in contact with anthers or stigma, because 
it is too short. Thus it is useless as a pollinator. It is an un- 
bidden guest ” — a robber. 
The next most frequent visitor is apparently a close relative 
of the common House fly, which it much resembles in appeal ance 
and size. The most noticeable points of difference are — the back 
of its thorax is more thickly coated with rather long stiff haiis, 
and when at rest it folds one wing completely over the other. 
This curious habit gives the insect quite the look of a beetle at 
first sight. This creature, whose name I have not yet ascertained, 
is, I believe, the chief pollinator of the Marianthus flower, at least 
in this district (York). I think so because there seems a connec- 
tion between the frequency of its visits and the quantity of fruit 
