On the grounds that I was a botanist with an interest in insects I was asked many years ago to participate in the writing of a book on pollination. The book is due to appear soon (Proctor and Yeo, in the press). My contribution to it is largely based on previous publications and I have not done any experi- mental work on the subject. However, I have made some observations from time to time and some of these seem to be worth publishing, though most are not suitable for inclusion in the forthcoming book. These, together with some thoughts stimulated by the literature and my continuous contact with British and exotic plants in the Cambridge Botanic Garden, form the very mixed bag of notes presented here