64 
to discuss the question, but I fancy a careful study of the allies of 
the species would throw much light upon it. Chieranthera, for 
instance, has a regular corolla, but its stamens are all turned to 
one side. 
A brief consideration of the fruit will not be out of 
place, especially as it dehisces just at flowering time. It is an 
oblong bi-carpellary capsule about three-quarters of an inch in 
length. It dehisces at the top by both sutures, and the splitting 
gradually extends downwards, but seldom far. The seeds are 
flat reniform discs and lie loose in the capsule in four piles. The 
valves of the capsule are woody and the apex of each valve bears 
a small sharp somewhat recurved mucro or spike. This “ spike ” 
readily catches in one’s coat, for instance, and as one moves aw r ay 
the fruit-bearing branch is pulled over. Suddenly, the spike lets 
go, and as the branch flies back seeds are jerked out of the capsule. 
Such is the arrangement for seed dispersal. I could not determine 
in the bush how far the seeds w r ere thrown, so I experimented 
with a fruit-bearing branch at home. I did not succeed in 
getting the seeds to travel further than four feet. This seems 
a short distance, but I do not think they can be thrown further 
under natural conditions. Probably supplementary means of 
dispersal ( e.g ., Ants) come into play. I have observed that even 
a strong wind does not shake seeds out of the capsule. Perhaps 
in the virgin bush marsupials browse upon these plants, and, 
frequently getting the capsules caught in their fur, are instru- 
mentalinscattering the seed. It is remarkable, however, if this 
is so, that the fruits should ripen at flowering time : it looks 
as though the animals would scatter the seeds w Itile brow'sing 
on the flow'ers ! I may here remark that sheep and horses are 
very fond of the flow'ers, they also eat the young shoots readily. 
In January, 1907, I managed to spend an hour w'atching, at 
some distance, a number of flow r ering plants bearing ripe capsules 
at a spot as far from civilisation as I could get, u’here I have fre- 
quently seen kangaroos. On this occasion I saw 1 a small bird 
visit two shrubs. It did not positively alight, but it evidently 
sought something. This suggests that the seeds may be scattered 
by birds visiting the shrubs in search of insects. The seeds 
certainly are scattered, usually long before flowering is over, 
and the shrubs sustain no damage (which negatives the browsing 
marsupial theory). The question requires much further in- 
vestigation. 
The immature fruits have a pungent and somew'hat acrid 
taste, but this does not deter horses from eating them. Possibly 
it is a protection against native herbivora. 
Several years ago I raised a plant from seed and got it to 
flower in my garden. Observations upon it have enabled me to 
state the time of duration of the flower, and a few other points 
requiring continuous watching. For several reasons I removed 
