217 
of Westralian Plants . 
plant, which is plentiful about York as a parasite upon Acacia acuminata , 
Benth. The flower is over-large for any insect—it is about an inch in 
length—'but in dipping into it for nectar a bird can scarcely fail to receive 
pollen on some part of its head, or to leave some on a stigma. The in¬ 
florescence is a pendulous tangled tassel of petals, stamens, and styles. 
The flower parts are rigid ; the style, though filamentous, is remarkably 
tough and springy, and seems well adapted for scraping pollen from 
feathers. It is worthy of note that this species is doubly ornithophilous : 
its seeds are distributed by birds, which devour the sticky-fleshed berries, 
and wipe the naked seeds off their bills on to convenient twigs. The plant 
flowers in December, and fruits ripen about March. 
Closely similar in structure is the flower of Xanthorrhoea Preissii , Endl., 
the ‘Black Boy’ or ‘Grass Tree’. The erect perigone scarcely extends 
beyond the general surface of the spike (the bract tips) ; the stamens spread, 
but not widely; and the style does not attain its full length till some days 
after anthesis. A glistening drop of nectar occupies the centre of each 
flower, the style leaning to one side. As I have frequently seen small birds 
clinging to the gigantic spike, and dipping their beaks into the flowers, 
I think they often, if not usually, act as pollinators, though the flowers are 
freely visited by many insects. 
The delicate blossoms of Acacia celastrifolia , Benth., do not at first 
sight appear to be at all adapted for bird pollination, yet my observations 
have led me to regard birds as the official pollinators. The only visible 
part of the open blossom is a multitude of flimsy stamens so disposed as to 
form a fluffy ball. The flowers are borne in subsessile pairs on racemes 
about three inches long inserted in the axils of the phyllodes. The source 
of attraction is a gland on the upper edge of the phyllode, which secretes 
nectar at flowering time, and only then. Zoster ops gouldi and Glyciphila 
spp. are frequent visitors, and in sipping nectar seldom, if ever, fail to brush 
against several flowers. Hive-bees visit the glands in swarms, but are too 
small to brush against the anthers. The raceme does not stand directly 
over the phyllode edge, but in a plane about 30° distant; so that, while 
birds are given thereby freer access to the nectar-gland, the visits of nectar¬ 
seeking insects are sacrificed. Bees gather pollen at times, and then prob¬ 
ably act as pollinators. A more complete account of my observations will 
be found in the ‘Journal of W. A. Natural History Society’, No. vi. 
Species of Eucalyptus come next on my list. Sepals and petals are 
discarded at anthesis in the form of a calyptra in this genus, and the open 
blossom is in some respects very simple in structure. A ring of numerous 
thread-like stamens surrounds the top of the ovary, which is surmounted by 
a slender terete style, whose apex only is stigmatic. A few figures recently 
obtained from a flower of Eucalyptus macrocarpa , Hook., will be much more 
effective than a long description in revealing the character of the flowers. 
