in five populations, with the largest population comprising 300 plants. In 1988, however, only four populations comprising 300 plants were found; surprisingly, only fifty plants could be found in the location where a population of 300 had previously been reported; yet there were no dead plants, and no evidence of disturbance. Since then the number of populations reported have ranged from 6 to 11, and reports of the total number of plants have ranged from 340 to 580. Life cycle and ecology Pollinated primarily by honeyeaters, the inflorescences appear from September to December. Prominent flowers, a red or pink colour, a straight style and a tubular perianth are features thought to promote pollination by birds. The structure of B. cuneata's flower, with the style end functioning as a pollen presenter, suggests that autogamous self-fertilisation must be common. This is countered, however, by protandry: pollen is released well before the pistil becomes receptive; usually by the time the pistil becomes receptive most of the pollen has either been transferred, or has lost its viability. This strategy is effective against individual flowers fertilising themselves, but does nothing to prevent geitonogamy: fertilisation of flowers by different flowers on the same plant. Because of the way flowers are clustered together in heads, this must be quite common, although whether it results in successful fruit set is another matter: isozyme studies have observed "intense selection against homozygotes", a fairly common outbreeding strategy in plants that set much seed. Assessments of the mating system of this species have found that outcrossing rates vary between populations. Populations in relatively intact bushland have high outcrossing rates, but those in more disturbed environments are both more inbred on average, and more variable. This has been attributed to a range of causes. Firstly, the higher density of disturbed populations leads to greater rates of mating between neighbouring plants, resulting in more genetic structure and thus more effective selfing. Secondly, disturbed populations usually lack an understorey, and so cannot support a resident population of honeyeaters; instead, they rely upon occasional visitors for pollination. The greatly reduced pollination rates means fewer outcrossing fertilisations on average, leading to less selection against inbred fertilisations; and the sporadic presence of pollinators leads to outcrossing variability. No seed is set when pollinators are excluded, indicating that seed set must be pollinator-limited. About 96% of fertilized follicles mature, and about 82% of seeds mature. These are very