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The Native Flowers of Victoria.
To the memory of
MY FATHER
who, through his innate love of
the beautiful in Nature, first led
me into Nature’s byepaths.
The
Native Flowers
of
Victoria
BY
EDWARD EDGAR PESCOTT, f LS., f.r.h.s
With Introduction by
PROFESSOR A J EWART, D.Sc., Ph. D.. F.L.S., etc.
Illustrated by Four Coloured Plates and Fihy-six
Photo- En gravir, gs
GEORGE ROBERTSON COMPANY
Propy. Ltd.
MELBOURNE. SYDNEY. ADELAIDE and BRISBANE
6
NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
C
Contents.
Page.
Introduction, by Professor A. J. Ewart . 9
Preface . . . . . . . . 11
Chapter
I. The Native Flora of Victoria . . . . 14
II. Growing the Native Flora . . . . 18
III. Boronia and Pittosporum . . . . 28
IV. The Legumes . . . . . . 34
V. The Legumes : the Wattles . . . . 40
VI. Daisies and Everlastings . . . . 48
VII. The Myrtle Family . . . . . . 56
VIII. The Myrtle Family : the Eucalypts . . 65
IX. The Protea Family and its allies . . 73
X. The Heaths and Bluebells . . . . 79
XI. Orchids . . . . . . . . 84
XII. Iris and Lily . . . . . . 89
XIII. Grasses and Ferns . . . . . . 94
XIV. A number of Desirable Plants . . . . 99
XV. Glossary .. .. .. ..Ill
NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
7
List of Illustrations.
COLOURED PLATES:
Acacia Mitchelli )
Calectasia cyanea j
; Plate 1 .
Facing Title page
Epacris impressa
Plate 2 .
„ page 32
Grevillea alpina
Plate 3
„ 64
Pomaderris lanigera
Terrestrial orchids,
1 Plate 4 .
„ 96
PHOTO. ENGRAVINGS:
Acacia armata
Facing page 47
Acacia calamifolia
yy
y y
43
Acacia dealbata (tree) . .
yy
yy
5
Acacia dealbata (group)
yy
yy
39
Acacia dealbata at Hurstbridge . .
y y
y y
38
Acacia leprosa
yy
yy
46
Acacia longifolia
yy
yy
53
Acacia pravissiraa
yy
yy
42
Acacia pycnantha
yy
yy
52
Actinotus Helianthi
yy
55
iVngophora intermedia . .
yy
yy
78
Bauera sessiliflora
y )
110
Billardiera scandens
19
Boronia pilosa
yy
yy
18
Boronia pinnata
yy
yy
72
Brachyloma daphnoides
yy
yy
72
Brunonia australis
85
Caladenia dilatata
86
Callistemon coecineus . .
yy
yy
72
8
NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
Callistemon pithyoides . .
. . Facing page 58
Calochilus Robertsoni . .
• •
77
87
Calycothrix Sullivani
• • )>
77
13
Celmisia longifolia
• •
77
54
Clematis aristata
• *
77
98
Clematis aristata (seeds)
• •
77
99
Clematis aristata var. Dennisae
• >7
7?
100
Correa speeiosa
• • 7?
77
34
Diplarrhena Moraea
• • 77
77
92
Epaeris impressa
• • 77
77
79
Eriostemon myoporoides
* • 77
77
12
Eriostemon umbellatus
• • 7?
77
31
Eriostemon obovalis
• • 77
77
30
Eucalyptus corynocalyx
• * 77
7?
67
Eucalyptus melliodora . .
• • 77
77
66
Eucalyptus globulus
• • 77
77
67
Fern Gully at Warburton, A.
• • 77
77
95
Kunzea parvifolia
• • 77
77
60
Leptospermum myrsinoides
• ♦ 77
77
73
Leptospermum seoparium
• • 77
77
73
Lhotzkya genetylloides
• • 77
77
61
Livistona australis
• • 77
77
94
Micromyrtus microphyllus
• • 7?
77
55
Patersonia glauca
• • 77
77
93
Phebalium dentatum
• • 77
77
31
Plectrantbus parviflorus
• • 77
77
108
Prostanthera rotundifolia
• • 77
77
101
Richea Gunii . .
• • 77
77
83
Ricinocarpus pinifolius
• * 77
77
111
Stylidium graminifolium
• * 77
7?
84
Stypandra glauca
* • 77
77
91
Stypbelia collina
• * 77
77
82
Swainsona Greyana
• •
77
35
Thryptomene Mitchelliana
• • 77
77
59
Thysanotus tuberosus . .
• • 77
77
91
Viola hederacea
• • 77
7?
109
Wablenbergia gracilis . .
• • 77
77
82
Wild Flower Garden at the Grampians „
77
4
Xanthorrhoea australis
• • 77
7?
90
lA
A W ild Mower ( Inrdeii at tlie (Irampians.
( liieHy Leptospermum si o|)ariuiir ami ('onospermum Mifclielli
./. J. R el fill, fhoto."\
A Silver Wattle Tree at Heidelberg.
2a
NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
9
Introduction.
By Professor A. J. Ewart,
Government Botanist for Victoria, and Professor of Botany
and riant Pathology at the Melbourne University.
Nothing is more striking to a European botanist
visiting Victoria for the first time, than to find
so many plants which he has long known as
beautiful garden or greenhouse exotics, carefully
tended and highly prized, growing wild in profusion
in Victoria, and frequently regarded locally as little
better than weeds. To some extent this is the result
of the human tendency to value that which is rare
and to depreciate that which is common, regardless
of actual merit. As many of our most beautiful wild
flowers are now much more uncommon than formerly,
or are even in some cases nearing extinction as wild
plants, this cause of lack of appreciation should be
less active than formerly. The issue of a book such
as the present one is therefore peculiarly opportune,
and should not only give those already interested in-
formation which they need, but should encourage
others to make more use of native plants in their
gardens, and perhaps to develop further the beauties
which so many of them already possess. A great
field lies open for garden lovers in the cultivation of
our native plants. In nature, striking artistic
effects are often produced by flowers in themselves
of no special size, brilliancy, or beauty, simply by
10 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
their abundance and harmony with their surround-
ings.
In gardens where the eifects must be produced
on a smaller scale, it is necessary to use largely
plants whose more striking beauties and peculiarities
have been intensified by selection and cultivation. It
is obvious that the greater the natural beauty of
plants in their wild form, the more promising
material they will afford for scientific breeding and
cultivation. In this respect it is no exaggeration to
say that many of our native wild fiowers compare
more than favourably with the wild forms of some of
the most prized plants of our gardens, and there can
be no doubt that the systematic cultivation of our
native wild flowers will add many new treasures to
those already dear to horticulturists.
In the present work, Mr. Pescott has collected in a
simple and readable form much information in
regard to our more interesting native plants which is
not generally known, and this will enable those
interested to select those plants for cultivation which
will be most suitable for their purpose. At the same
time the book should give added interest and enjoy-
ment to the field rambles of lovers of nature and of
wild flowers.
Alfred J. Ewart.
University of Melbourne.
NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
11
PREFACE.
The need of a work dealing in a popular and yet
scientific raanner with the native flowers of
Victoria, Australia, has been felt for some time
past, especially since nature study has become so
general. Information on the subject of a strictly
botanical character is obtainable from various pub-
lications, but no work has been published, suitable
for the general reader, dealing popularly and topi-
cally with our wild flowers and plants, with special
reference to their cultivation in home gardens. There
is no doubt that there are many desirable plants still
growing only in natural conditions which should cer-
tainly grace our gardens. It is also a faet that many
of our native plants are cultivated in other countries
that are unknown to our own gardens, except perhaps
in one or two special cases.
Until quite recently it was not possible to obtain
seeds of that graceful plant Ilumea elegans except in
Europe, yet it has been known as a wild plant locally
for many years. To instance this in a wider sense:
in 1827 a book was published in England by Robert
Sweet, F.L.S., beautifully illustrated with hand-
coloured steel engravings, figuring nearly sixty
native plants of Australia, every illustration being
drawn from plants which were then in cultivation in
England. Nearly ninety years have passed since
the publication of that book, and it would be safe to
12 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
say that not two dozen of these plants are yet in
general cultivation in Australia. But fortunately
this conditions of affairs is gradually passing away.
The teaching of Nature Study in schools, the holding
of Nature Study Exhibitions, the increased attention
being given in our Botanic and Public Gardens to the
cultivating and segregating in groups of our native
flora, the propaganda work of Forest Leagues and
Wattle Day Leagues are all helping to popularise our
native flowers. It is therefore pleasing to note, as a
result, that many nurserymen are increasing their
stock and variety of these plants, and thus by their
catalogues and in other ways, making many desir-
able plants available to the public that were pre-
viously quite unprocurable.
In this connection, it is not out of place to men-
tion the splendid work which is being carried out by
the Government Schools’ Horticultural Society. This
Society controls the distribution of seeds and plants
to the schools, and in the season 1913, in addition to
its various other activities, the Society distributed
over five thousand packets of seeds of native plants
to the schools enrolled on its lists.
I have not dealt with the possibilities that might
result from the hybridisation of our flora. There is
not the least doubt that a magnificent field is all
ready for the man who has the time and who will
take the opportunity at hand for that interesting task.
Already one grower has proved the possibilities in
this direction by largely improving some of the Gre-
villeas by hybridisation. This work will give sure
results.
J. A. Scars, photo.^
Eriostemon myoporoides, D.C.
(Long-leaved W axflower. )
3a
J. Relpli, pholo.\
Calycothrix Sullivani, F.vM.
4a
PREFACE.
13
In conclusion, I must thankfully acknowledge my
deep indebtedness to several personal friends, with-
out whose generous aid this book would scarcely have
been possible. Especially is this the case with the
numerous photographs taken among their native
haunts, by means of which it has been possible to
make clear, not only the botanical features of many
species and genera, but also the beauty and quaint-
ness of their forms; for these I am indebted to the
generosity of Messrs. A. J. Relph, H. P. Dickins, F.
L. Reeves and J. A. Sears. Mr. Dickins is also
responsible for the coloured illustrations which faith-
fully reproduce the natural colours and form of the
typical flowers depicted.
School of Horticulture,
Note. — The common names given to the plants are,
in almost every case, those which have been selected
by the Plant Names’ Committee of the Victorian Field
Naturalists’ Club.
14 NATIVE FLOWERS OP VICTORIA.
CHAPTER I.
The Native Flora of Victoria.
The native flora of Victoria, like that of the rest
of Australia, is of more than ordinary interest
on account of the fact that the major portion
of it is strictly Australian — that is, it does not occur
anywhere else. The geographical distribution of
these plants shows that at one time Victoria and Tas-
mania were not separated by Bass Strait, a fact
generally conceded by geographers; and plants iden-
tical or closely related with those of Victoria are to
be found both in New Zealand and South America.
Even so we have many exclusive species, and it is
very interesting to note that most of these uncommon
plants are worthy of more than ordinary notice, both
to the botanist and the horticulturist.
Their hardy character is worthy of special notice,
and should commend them to growers. When the
climatic extremes and conditions of Victoria are con-
sidered; when, judged by the older-world standard,
our soils are poor and infertile, lacking in two very
essential plant foods, phosporic acid and potash;
when the average shallowness of the surface soil is
considered, and yet, when, with all these drawbacks,
we consider the luxuriant vegetation to be met with
everywhere, the only conclusion that we can come to
is that our native flora is one of the hardiest in the
world. Further, the vegetation is just as luxuriant
THE NATIVE FLORA.
15
and the flowers equally brilliant on the poor coastal-
plain soils, as in rich jungle and alluvial soils in the
Gippsland area. The poor coastal sandy plains in
East Gippsland, the clay soils of the Goulburn Val-
ley, the rich soils and the sandy pine ridges of the
Mallee, the Silurian soils scattered all over the State,
these all yield botanic treasures of wonderful form
and brilliant hue. Rich soils and poor soils alike,
favourable and unfavourable latitudes and aspects,
are all possessed of a valuable native flora. And so
our plants are thus fitted by nature to be hardy. The
foliage, the bark, the seeds, all show this. It is
recorded that the seeds of some of our Acacias may
be germinated when they are fifty years old, while
the Government Botanist, Professor Ewart, has ger-
minated seeds of Goodia lotifolia, which were defin-
itely known to be one hundred and five years old, and
seeds of Hardenbergia monophylla (the purple sar-
saparilla) were germinated at an age of fifty years.
Victorian plants are obtainable to suit every
requirement — useful, beautiful, or ornamental. The
use of our plants in the applied arts is now becoming
general, and in all classes of designing, as well as in
decorating, it is encouraging to lovers of the native
flora to know that art workers are enthusiastically
taking these as models. In garden work of all
descriptions our plants and trees are being used, and
it is hoped here to further show that quite a number
of plants, which so far have been neglected, are avail-
able for various uses in the garden.
The use of Pittosporum undulatum as a hedge
plant is generally known, and provided it be cut
16 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
back so as to allow the young growth to harden
before the frosts come, the plant can be brought by
cutting into any limit that the operator desires; and
yet few people are aware that in its natural home
this plant is a tree often over sixty feet in height. On
the banks of the Snowy River in Victoria, and in
parts of the adjacent jungles, I have seen magnifi-
cent specimens of this tree, and when in full flower
the scent was so strong as to be almost overpowering.
Then there is the sugar-gum. Eucalyptus corynocalyx,
a tree which runs up to one hundred and twenty feet
in its wild state; it is rare that anyone has ever seen
a garden hedge made of this tree. In a garden in
Upper Beaconsfield, there was a beautiful sugar-gum
hedge nine years old and about four feet high, always
kept well trimmed and cut, and as ornamental as any
Pittosporum or Privet hedge.
Of climbing plants, the species of Clematis, Celas-
trus, and Hardenbergia are useful. We are familiar
with the latter under the name of sarsaparilla, which
is so fine in the bush in springtime. It is also a
plant that improves considerably under cultivation,
climbing gloriously up the side of a house or on a
fence, covering many feet — a mass of wonderful
purple. The Passion Flower of the Snowy River,
Passiflora cinnabarina, is also a quick climber, with
dark green foliage and beautiful scarlet flowers.
Of ornamental flowering shrubs, the name and
variety are legion, and one only has to spend a few
hours at different seasons of the year in the Mel-
bourne Botanic Gardens to note the great variety of
choice the gardener has. Incidentally it may be
THE NATIVE FLORA.
17
mentioned that these gardens possess one of the finest
living collections in the world of the Australian flora.
Such plants as Goodia lotifolia, Eriostemon
myoporoides, and the various Prostantheras are weU
known, but these are only a few out of the hundreds
of equally beautiful ones. Thryptomene Mitehel-
liana, a beautiful pinkish heath-like shrub growing
in the Grampians; Pittosporum phillyraeoides, the
willow pittosporum, from the northern districts of
Victoria, with its delicate wiUow-like foUage, and its
starry lemon-coloured flowers; Calycothrix Sullivani,
a lovely pinkish and white Myrtaceous shrub from
the Grampians; a large number of Grevilleas — these
and many others are well suited for ordinary garden
culture, and as flowering shrubs, will equal any that
we have under cultivation at the present time.
So far nothing has been said of the various
Eucalypts and Acacias; their name is legion. There
are many varieties which are suited for garden cul-
ture, and probably only two or three dozen varieties
may be counted in our gardens. Special reference
will be made to these and others in a subsequent
chapter.
B
18 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
CHAPTER II.
Growing the Native Flora.
Gardeners have declared that the difficulties
in the way of growing the native flowers are
either too great for them to overcome, or that
the plants do not make a satisfactory growth com-
mensurate with the labour and care involved. This
is certainly a mistake, as the flowers and plants of
Australia are no more difficult to grow than those of
other places. The hardy character of our flora has
previously been referred to; therefore if our plants
are hardy it is our business to keep them so. They
should neither be nursed nor coddled up, nor given
too much attention. Of course the method of treat-
ment of any plant depends entirely on the native
habitat and soil-conditions of the plant. For in-
stance, if the home of the plant is in a cool dark
jungle, where the soil is made up of the leaf mould
of many generations, it would be folly to transport
such a plant into the hardiest situation of our gar-
dens, and vice versa.
It should be further remembered that a very large
proportion of garden plants are either hybridised or
improved by sport or seed selection. Such plants
are bred into garden conditions and can be more
readily subjected to ordinary cultural and manurial
operations. There are several ways by which native
plants may be obtained. They may be brought from
A. J. Relph, />/;<?/().] Boronia pilosa, Labill.
(Hairy Boronia).
Ill
2l!
Ri'lf'h. l'holi>.\ Billardiera scandens, Smith.
(Solid Ap])le Berry ).
GROWING THE NATIVE FLORA.
19
their habitat in the wild places, they may be grown
from seeds, or else from cuttings.
In removing the plants from the place where they
have grown naturally, great care must be exercised
in their transport. A small round trowel is best
suited for their removal, one that is used for light
gardening purposes, being about nine or ten inches
long from top of handle to tip of blade. The blade
is better round; this can then be inserted three or
four times in the soil around the plant until a com-
plete circle is cut, driving the trowel deeply into the
soil. The plant may then be lifted out with a nice
ball of soil compactly adhering and with the fibrous
roots undamaged, which is very essential. The
surplus soil may be lightly removed with the fingers,
and then the plant with the ball of soil adhering, may
be wrapped round with a piece of newspaper or with
some nice long soft grass. The paper should not be
harsh nor unyielding ; if so, it will be well to moisten
it first. The plants may, when collected, be packed
in a leather bag, or preferably in a box, with grass
filling the intervening spaces, in which they can be
safely carried for hundreds of miles. Some plants
collected in this way were despatched nearly two
hundred miles by coach, rail and carrier, and every
one grew successfully. It may be said that plants
have been removed from the bush and grown suc-
cessfully without all this trouble. Exactly so ! I
have had a similar experience, when, for experiment,
I simply pulled a two-year-old Acacia verniciflua and
an Aster myrsinoides from the soil at Dandenong,
severing all soil and fibrous roots. After being out
20 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
of the soil for about ten hours they were planted, and
are now, after two years, satisfactorily growing and
producing flowers. But if this method were fol-
lowed generally a very poor percentage of growths
would result, and it would be an extravagant destruc-
tion of plants. The plants thus selected in the wild
must necessarily be young and small; such plants
whose roots have not grown far into the soil, and thus
will not he destroyed by the removal. Nice young
plants are best, from two to six inches in height. As
quickly as possible after digging up, the plants should
be potted into three- or four-inch pots, according
to the size of the ball of soil, which should not be
disturbed any more than can be helped. Liberal
drainage medium should be placed in the pots in the
form of small broken pieces of pot or of cinders, a
little fibrous peat, moss, or semi-decayed leaf mould
being placed on the top of this; then the plants are
placed in the pots, and the intervening spaces lightly
but firmly filled with a nice light sandy soil. The
plants may then be watered and placed in a cool
frame with a glass sash or light on top, standing on
the ground, with no manure or heating medium at
the bottom. The plants are thus sheltered from sun
and wind, and are kept at a fairly even temperature.
Being thus snugly looked after, and lightly watered
when needed, they should soon accustom themselves
to their new home, and should root well in the pots.
No manure of any kind should be given at any time.
The best time for this transplanting operation is in
spring or early summer, when the plant is growing
after the winter’s rest.
GKOWING THE NATIVE FLORA.
21
If necessary, the plants may be^ kept in the pots
tiU next spring, when they may be planted out in the
gardens; or they may be removed from the pots into
the beds when they are rooted and established. If
they are planted direct from the bush into the gar-
dens they should be well shaded with light brush-
wood or leafy twigs for a week or two, and kept well
watered, but not wet. Even with all care possible
this latter method is not usually a successful one.
Failing the possession of a glass frame, the plants,
if put into pots, should be kept in a warm corner,
away from winds and draughts, and shaded from the
sun’s direct rays with a hessian or calico screen. No
attempt should be made to lift old plants or plants
that have become hard-wooded. Their roots have
ramified far too widely and deeply into the soil : and
in removing the plant too much root destruction
occurs, which, of course, will kill the plant. If it
be wished to grow the terrestrial orchids, with which
our flora is so rich, the better plan is to mark the spot
where the orchids are growing, and when the stem
and foliage have died, to simply dig up the tuber
and plant it either in a pot or in the garden. These
fascinating plants will grow easily when transplanted
and always give satisfaction. It must be remem-
bered that most orchids are dormant in summer when
the soil is usually very dry. If the same conditions
are given to them under cultivation, keeping the soil
fairly dry when there is no growth, the plants will
thrive well.
The most difficult method of reproduction of the
native flora is the growing of cuttings. Many
22 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
species, of course, cannot be so reproduced; others
will grow readily. Cuttings taken from the plants
growing in the wild will rarely grow; they must be
taken from evenly-grown cultivated plants, and pre-
ferably from plants which have been grown in pots.
The cuttings should be taken from the young or half-
ripened wood of mature plants, and grown in pots in
pure sand and in the glass frames. This method is
only to be tried when all other methods of reproduc-
tion fail. Eucalypts and Acacias may be grafted on
to seedling plants in pots, but it is far easier and it
gives just as good results to grow these plants from
seed.
The growing of seeds of native plants is a matter
that requires a good deal of attention. Generally
speaking, the seeds are of two classes: first, those
which come up under ordinary garden conditions, and
second those which will not germinate owing to their
hard impermeable coats, unless some special treat-
ment is accorded to them. To the latter class belong
the seeds of many Leguminous or pod-bearing plants,
such as Acacias (wattles), Hardenbergia (sarsapar-
illa), Goodia, Indigofera (indigo), Viminaria
(Broom), Hovea, and many others. Naturally, the
very large majority of these remain in the soil until
a bush fire passes over the country. Then the outer
hard cuticle being burned, the seeds wiU germinate
and a good growth results. Sometimes the seeds
grow without this burning, but in this ease some ex-
ternal action has occurred to destroy or injure the
outer coat. Such seeds, then, should be soaked for
some hours in water (which has been poured on to
GROWING THE NATIVE FLORA.
23
them hot) until they swell; they are then ready for
planting.
Some seeds delay their germination period con-
siderably after the time they are ripe. To this
class belong some of the Eucalypts, Clematis, Ranun-
culus (buttercup), and Callistemon (bottlebrush).
On one occasion I waited six months before sown
seed of the Clematis and Callistemon germinated and
grew.
With the exception of the seeds of the hard-coated
section, all seed may be sown when ripe ; but there is
always a certain element of risk in so doing, for if
watered too freely they may germinate too quickly
and not thrive during autumn and winter. In
spring, early in September, is the most suitable time
for the seed sowing. If left tiU later they will suffer
from the hot weather and the young plants will not
be hard enough to withstand the heat. It is pre-
ferable to sow in shallow pots or boxes having a good
drainage, and a fine light sandy soil ; or they may be
grown in sand to which a little peat or good old leaf-
mould has been added. No manure is necessary; in
fact, if any attempt be made to force them by feed-
ing, the young germinating seedlings will be killed.
The seed-pots or pans should be protected from the
sun and wind, but they must not be too much shaded,
otherwise the seedlings will become leggy and drawn.
This weakens them considerably. They must there-
fore be given ample light. If the seeds be sown in
the open ground a fair proportion of sand should
first be mixed with the soil in the place where they
are to be sown. For a time, after the seedlings are
24 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
through the soil, they may be shaded with leafy twigs
and kept moist. If possible, better results will be
obtained by potting up the small seedlings when they
have four or five leaves in three- or four-inch pots,
and then managed in the same way as suggested for
the young plants collected in the bush. It should,
however, be noted that some plants, notably some of
the Habeas, will not transplant, and these should be
allowed to remain where the seed was planted.
In planting out permanently the young plants
should have the soil well firmed around the roots, and
then watered. It is essential that the soil should be
well drained, and that it shall be in such a condition
that it shall never at any time be too wet.
The question of suitable soils is one that requires
consideration. If plants are found naturally grow-
ing in a rich alluvial, or a wet boggy, or a harsh dry
sandy soil, then it is only fair to the plant to give it
somewhat similar conditions in the garden. But if
plants are found growing under varying soil condi-
tions, then this is a matter that does not call for spe-
cial care. The adaptability of our plants is well
known, and with good care almost any soil will suit
to grow them in. What is more important than a
suitable soil for native plants, is suitable soil condi-
tions. First, good drainage is essential, for the
majority of our plants are not accustomed to an excess
of soil water, and a fairly dry sweet soil is one of
their special requirements. Second, the strict rule
should be — neither animal nor chemical manure
should be given. An occasional top-dressing with
fresh soil, free from manures, with perhaps a little
GROWING THE NATIVE FLORA.
25
leaf mould added will be beneficial ; or if the soil be at
all heavy, a dressing of good sand will be of great
value. It is of great importance that the plants
shall have a well aerated soil. The soil should sea-
sonably be dug over, and the hoe kept well at work
in summer and in dry weather. The digging should
not interfere with the root system, and aU shallow
surface roots should be kept intact. The spade
should not be used close to the shrubs or plants. That
soU may be lightly forked over, or stirred with a hoe.
The subsequent management and the pruning of
the trees and shrubs must not be neglected. It
might be argued that in the wild these plants are not
pruned : the reply is that no one wishes to prune them
in the wild; but in gardens, in order to get the best
results, they must be amenable to the ordinary garden
operations. If judiciously carried out, and the
work done at the right season, the plants will respond
readily to any pruning operations. While the young
plants are growing they should be pinched or trimmed
into a good shape. No dominant growth should be
allowed pre-eminence; it should be pinched or cut
back to get an even plant. The centres of the shrubs
must not be allowed to become too crowded or they
will become filled with dead twigs which have died for
lack of air and light, and which are a harbour for
spiders and all classes of insects.
The actual pruning is done immediately after the
flowering season, and there should be no other time
for this work. The shrub or plant may be pruned
hard back as soon as the flowers have fallen, bring-
ing it back into a good regular and even shape. After
26 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
pruning, a watering will be helpful in inducing the
buds to break into a good and healthy growth. These
remarks refer to almost aU classes of plants, includ-
ing Acacias, Eucalypts, Grevilleas, Prostantheras,
Callistemons, Myoporums, and others. Where such
plants are grown as a hedge, they may be accorded
the usual trimming and cutting given to hedges at
the usual time, observing the rule that the best time
for cutting back is after the blossom period.
In fern growing the main necessities are shelter
from winds and severe sun, and a good supply of
water. In the fern-houses a fair amount of light
should be allowed; a good fem-house would be com-
pletely boarded up to three or four feet from the
ground, and then latticed to the top, latticing also the
roof. The roof must neither be too open nor too
high. If glass and lattice are used in combination,
the glass should always be on the roof. A good
fernery may be built of unpainted bamboo blinds.
The soil should occasionally be stirred and aU fallen
leaves and foliage removed. Dead fronds should
always be cut from the ferns. These, as well as
leaves and rubbish on the ground, are a great harbour
for slugs and snails which are exceedingly fond of
the soft succulent young fronds. The ordinary tree-
fern, Dicksonia antarctica, should not be grown out
in the sun. If a tree-fern for open garden condi-
tions is required, Alsophila Australis is the best one.
In growing ferns in pots, boxes or tubs, the same
conditions of shelter and moisture should be observed ;
they should be well protected. A fern corner in the
garden is always attractive, and provided with shelter
GROWING THE NATIVE FLORA.
27
from sun and winds and kept moist and cool, ferns will
thrive very well. If the ferns are transferred from
their native habitat it would be well to note the
natural conditions under which they grow and to
imitate those as closely as possible in the ferns’ new
home.
28 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
CHAPTER III.
Boronia and Pittosporum.
The Boronia, so popular in spring, with its dark
brown flowers, yellow inside, and with its very
distinctive fragrance, is one of the best known
of Australian plants. This species comes from West
Australia, and is one of those plants whose botanical
name, like that of the Pittosporum, has become hap-
pily familiar, requiring no so-called common name.
Common names perhaps serve a useful purpose; but
in many eases they are limited to a locality, and the
same plant has frequently half a dozen common names
in as many different localities, while the same com-
mon name often does duty for half a dozen plants.
The boronias belong to the Rutaceae family, and all
members of this order have more or less pungently
or strongly scented foliage, caused by the presence of
small oil glands or vessels.
There are eight or nine species of Boronia in Vic-
toria, while in Australia there are over sixty, and
they occur nowhere else in the world. With one
exception — and that species has bluish flowers — all
of our boronias have pink flowers. Boronia pinnata
is our most distinctive species, being a robust shrubby
plant, fairly tall with flne bright and large flowers.
It is found in the south, largely in Gippsland. On
one occasion I travelled through acres of this showy
plant, near the Bemm River in East Gippsland. It
BORONIA AND PITTOSPORUM.
29
is a far better gi’ower than Boronia megastigma, the
well known West Australian species, being more
suited to garden conditions, and growing taller and
finer. In the Grampians, one of the mountains is
called Boronia Peak, in honour of this genus, three
species of which are found growing upon its slopes.
Occurring naturally in sandy soils, all Boronias
require the same class of soil in garden culture. If
the soil be heavy, it should be given a mixing of at
least three parts of sand before planting out Boronias.
Then, with an ample supply of water in summer, and
with a minimum amount in winter, they should thrive
well. The easiest way to kill a Boronia is to give it
manure, and so to merit success, all manures should
be withheld.
The genus Eriostemon also belongs to this order.
This class of plants is so called because of the woolly
stamens occurring in the flowers first described. One
species, Eriostemon myoporoides, which is often
named Eriostemon neriifolius, is a fairly common
garden shrub, and one of good distinction. In sea-
son it bears masses of pinkish flowers and it remains
in bloom for some weeks. Of the close upon two
dozen Victorian species, many more are very worthy
of attention. It is hard to select the best varieties
among so many good ones. Eriostemon Crowei has
large bright pink flowers. Eriostemon trach3rphyUus
is a goodly sized tree, with white flowers growing in
the Snowy River district. Eriostemon correifolius
(Asterolasia Muelleri), is a charming yellowish starry
form growing in the south and east of Victoria. And
lastly the wax flower of the Bendigo district must not
30 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
be passed by. This is Eriostemon obovalis; and in
places on the auriferous and Silurian hills of the cen-
tral districts, it quite clothes the ground with dainty
masses of pink blossoms. For garden shrubs, the
Eriostemons are unrivalled, for they produce their
blossoms in great profusion under cultivation, and
wiU thrive even in stiff heavy soils. A sunny aspect
improves their good qualities.
Included in the same order as the Boronia
are the so-caUed native fuchsias which are not
fuchsias at aU, for the fuchsia belongs to an order
far removed from this one. The generic name is
Correa, given in honour of a Spanish botanist of that
name who wrote about this order of plants. While
the Correa is popular and well known, very little has
been done to bring the different species into general
use for garden purposes. Yet all the local species
are hardy and attractive. There are four species,
the ordinary one being Correa speciosa with its vari-
able scarlet and green, green, or yellowish flowers.
The height of the plant, too, is variable, ranging from
one foot to twelve or fifteen feet. Correa alba, the
white flowered species, has clusters of white starry
flowers and is quite charming as a garden plant.
Correa Lawrenciana is a taU shrubby species —
almost a tree. It is a mountain plant, growing in
the moist creek and forest gully areas and bearing
green flowers. A crimson form is very rare. Correas
thrive best in good loamy soils, and give the surest suc-
cess when given partial shade. A good water supply
at flowering time is very helpful. These, with the
Tetrathecas and the Epacris, give charming results
.4. J. Ri’lpit, p/io/o.]
Hriostemon obovalis, Cunn.
(Fairy W’axflower.)
4n
I'liehalitim cicntatum, Smitli Itriostcmon Uinbcllatiis, lure.)
{Umbellate riiebalmm),
BORONIA AND PITTOSPORUM.
31
when grown massed together, in a small natural
clump.
Another plant of this order is Zieria Smithii ; it is
a good shrub, having dark green shining foliage with
: clusters of small white flowers or sometimes faintly
pink. This is one of the popular shrubs of the East
Gippsland district. Two common yet beautiful
flowering plants are Tetratheca cihata and Tetratheca
ericfolia. They are low-growing plants, known as
' “Pink-eyes,” sending out long sprays of magenta
bells in spring and early summer. These plants grow
I readily in gardens and flower most profusely. Al-
though frequently called boronia, they do not belong
to the same order as the boronia, but to one closely
related to it.
The Pittosporum genus is known to all gardeners;
I and Pittosporum undulatum, the broad leaved
I variety, has been grown as a hedge plant for many
I years. The generic name means pitch-seed, and it
is suitable owing to the glutinous sticky nature of the
substance surrounding the seed. This shrub makes
an excellent hedge and wiU stand pruning to any
extent. It also grows to a fine shrub or tree and its
creamy flower clusters emit a very sweet and strong
fragrance. In its native state it grows to quite a
tall tree. The northern district species, Pittosporum
phiUyraeoides, the weeping or willow-like Pittos-
porum, is a fine drooping shrub or tree. With long
narrow and dark green leaves, and with masses of
sweet-scented cream flowers, it is an object of beauty
anywhere.
32 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
Pittosporum hedges are well known, there being
several species grown for that purpose. The one
that is native to Victoria, Pittosporum undulatum,
has fairly large and broad green leaves, slightly
undulate or wavy at the edges. The flowers, as
above mentioned, are very sweetly scented. When
young, and when the growths are young, it is very
subject to frosts. The young plants thus require
certain shelter and later on, when pruned, the work
should be done at the close of the frost season.
The order to which these plants belong — ^the Pit-
tosporeae — also owns some dainty climbing plants.
Billardiera scandens, and two other allied species, are
sparse growing climbers with delicate cream or yeUow
bell-shaped flowers. One species has bright blue
fruits. Another is IMarianthus bignoniaceus, a still
more dainty bell-shaped climber with charming pale
orange-coloured bells. It is plentiful along the
water courses of the Grampians, where it flowers in
great profusion. A really dainty plant, still of this
order, and one which always attracts notice on ac-
count of its open and brilliantly blue flowers, is
Chieranthera linearis, the “finger-flower.” The
flowers are nearly one inch across and the gentian-
blue colour is very striking. It is a low-growing
plant, favouring harsh or stony situations in the
warmer parts of Victoria ; and in the north-eastern
district, particularly near Seymour, it is especially
fine in spring. The plants are from a foot to eighteen
inches in height, with slender stems often with five
or six flowers.
BORONIA AND PITTOSPORUM.
33
Another plant of the Pittosporeae order is Bur-
saria spinosa. This grows as a spinous shrub, fairly
abundant in all parts, with numerous creamy-white
small flowers borne in dense panicles, and flowering all
through the summer. It is sweetly scented and at-
tracts large numbers of nectar-loving insects, and is
known as “Sweet Bursaria.” Because it has a
good show of bloom late in December, it is called in
many localities the “Christmas bush.”
This is, strangely, one of the shrubs that improves
considerably under cultivation. In its native
habitat, although it flowers profusely and w^ell, it is
more or less an untidy and irregular shrub or small
tree. But when planted in a shrubbery, or as a lawn
specimen, it responds well to the care given to it, and
becomes a very shapely bush.
34 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
CHAPTER IV.
The Legumes.
Next to the Composites, the Legumes or order of
leguminous plants, is the largest and most
widely distributed in the world. The legumes
are so called because the word means a pod-bearer,
and in this order the seeds are carried in a pod, with
two valves, which opens on the side opposite to that
on which the seeds are fastened. The order is
divided into several sub-orders with regard to the
shape of the flowers. One section has flowers shaped
like those of the sweet-pea, and another has flowers
more or less regularly and evenly shaped. In the
pea-flower section the curved petal at the bottom is,
from its shape, called the “keel;” the top ones the
“standard,” and the side ones, also from their shape,
the “wings.” There are considerably over one thou-
sand species of legumes in Australia, nearly two
hundred being Victorian. A large number are small-
growing insigniflcant plants or else they have not a
flower system of any note. They range from trees
down to herbs, some few being climbing plants. The
acacias or wattles belong to this family, and they are
dealt with in a separate chapter.
The common, so called. Sarsaparilla is a represen-
tative of this family. It is not a true sarsaparilla,
as those plants which are noted for the medicinal
value of their roots, belong to the lily family; at the
w
A’.7/>//, [>lu>lo.\ Correa speciosa, Andrews.
(Green Correa.)
/•'. / . I'hoto. I
Swainsona Cireyana, Lind.
(Pink Swainsona.)
2c
THE LEGUIMES.
35
same time the thick roots of this species, Hardenber-
gia monophylla, the ‘ ‘ Purple Coral Pea, ’ ’ have a cer-
tain medicinal value as a blood purifier. The rich
purple flowers come so profusely in spring as almost
to hide the foliage. The plant grows in the driest
situations possible, and thrives wonderfully, scram-
bling up rocks and saplings and climbing over logs
and fences. It requires constant support, and if
allowed to train over a rough treUis, or on a wire-
netting framework, it soon covers quite a good area
with its growth. It likes the sun; and planted on
the north side of the house, it seems to revel in its
bright and sunny position. In such places, parti-
cularly in a clay soil, and free from manure, it
rambles and grows luxuriantly.
A near relation of this, Kennedya prostrata, the
“Scarlet Coral Pea,” often called “the post-
man,” a scarlet-flowered trailing plant common in
many places, gives a brilliant patch of colour in the
spring and should succeed well as a rockwork plant.
The more robust species Kennedya rubicunda, with
dark red flowers, is a good climber for covering up
fences or trailing over trees. It is gommon in East
Gippsland.
The most extensive genus of legumes in Victoria
is Pultenaea. All of the species but one, have yellow,
brown, or dark red petals, some species having a com-
bination of the three colours. The one exception is
Pultenaea rosea, the “Rosy Bush Pea,” with helio-
trope-pink petals, which is one of our rarest plants.
It is found only in Victoria, and here only on the
summits of Mounts William and Rosea in the Gram-
36 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
pians. This latter mountain, which is 3,250 feet in
height, receives its name from this plant. There it
thrives well, growing in the moist springy turf and
following the water-courses for some distance down
the mountain side.
This species is now coming into cultivation, and
being of such uncommon beauty, it is worthy of more
than ordinary notice. At Mount Rosea, it grows
only in the boggy turf, and along the narrow moun-
tain water courses. Hence it seems to require ample
moisture; at the same time, growing as it does in
sandy soil, efficient drainage and sweetness of soil
conditions must be provided. At the same time, it
ultimately may prove to be as adaptable as many
of its congeners ; and if so, then we will be in posses-
sion of a lovely shrub for all garden purposes.
Another genus, Dillwynia, might readily be con-
fused with the Pultenaeas. The flowers of the Dillwy-
nias are also conbinations of yellow, brown or red-
brown. Indeed, botanically, the difference between
the two genera is very slight and that is in the almost
hidden structure of the flower. Dillwynia erici-
folia, the “Heathy Parrot Pea,” is the common yel-
low and red-brown flowered plant with heath-like
foliage which is met with frequently in spring.
The Native Hop, or one of the plants called native
hop, is a legume. This is one instance of the confusion
caused by common names. In this case a plant or
genus, Dodonea, has been so called on account of the
similarity of the fruit to that of the hop-plant.
Another plant, Goodenia ovata, has also been termed
THE LEGUMES.
37
native hop on account of a tonic bitter principle
which it contains. Both of these plants belong to
different orders, and neither is a legume. The native
hop of the legume family is Daviesia latifolia ; this is
a broad-leafed plant and has brown and yellow
flowers. An exceptionally bitter principle pervades
the whole plant and it has been used as a tonic for
both stock and humans. In the latter case, a tea
decoction is made. With stock this plant is reputed
to be an effective remedy for pleuro-pneumonia.
Cattle and horses are very fond of it, bitter as it is,
and I have known a horse to refuse the best of feed
when this plant was available. One of the most
beautiful shrubs of this class is Hovea longifolia; it
carries flower-heads of pale heliotrope blue, with fine,
solid, dark green foliage. It is rare and is only
found near water in the cooler districts.
Goodia lotifoha, called the Golden Goodia, has
very large racemes of yeUow flowers, intermingled
with its decorative trifoliate leaves. It is hardy, a
quick grower, and a fine shrub for any garden. It
is decorative at any season of the year, but when in
full flower in spring time, its masses of golden yellow
flowers, which completely cover the foliage, well
justify its common name. This is one of our hardy
shrubs, growing and thriving in almost any soil. It
very frequently throws out strong vigorous growths
from the stem near the ground. When this occurs,
to prevent overcrowding, the older growths, that have
flowered so well in previous years, may be cut out
altogether.
38 NATIVE FLOWERS OP VICTORIA.
The well-known indigo, Indigofera Australis, also
makes a good plant with its bluish pink flowers. It
is showy for a considerable time in the spring and
summer. Any location in the garden suits the
Indigo, and it always responds better to a hard prun-
ing immediately after flowering time.
The Swainsonas, or the ‘ ‘ Darling Peas, ’ ’ have been
cultivated in gardens for some years. These are
usually varieties of the New South Wales and Queens-
land species, S wainsona galegif olia. One species, Swaiu-
sona Greyana, which is very similar to the preceding
species, is recorded from Northern Victoria. It is
one of the plants collected by Major Llitchell during
his exploration tour in 1836. It is taU, about
3 to 5 feet in height, bearing fine racemes of pink
flowers almost through the whole year, and is thus one
of the most hardy and desirable of native shrubs.
Being hardy, the Swainsonas are useful in dry
soils, and particularly in sandy soils. They flower
for an extended period, sometimes weU into winter.
As the older growths harden and become aged, they
should always be cut right out, allowing the strong
young growths to come away from the crown.
There are four Oxylobiums, all with bright orange-
yellow flowers, and aU pretty and distinctive plants.
The best is Oxylobium ellipticum from East Vic-
toria,
Viminaria denudata, “Golden Spray,” is a tall
sparse-growing leafless shrub occurring in moist soils
in the cooler parts of the State. It produces an
abundant profusion of small yeUow flowers, the
weight of which causes the slender stems to droop in
In
Sihcr Wattle at H iirstbri(.l)<e.
2l)
k’rlph, ['lioh'.\ Aciiciii deiilhatii, Link.
(SiKer W'attle.)
THE LEGUMES.
39
a weeping fashion, giving the shrub a very graceful
appearance. It is somewhat like one of the small-
flowered English “brooms.” The seeds of this
plant possess very hard coats and, like those of the
acacias, remain ungerminated in the soil for many
years.
40 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
CHAPTER V.
The Legumes : The Wattles.
The Wattle (Acacia) is the national flower of Aus-
tralia, and Wattle Day has made the cult of this
flower both popular and world-famed. Victoria
is well endowed with Wattles, nearly seventy species
being found here; they may be found in aU corners
of the State, and nearly every species is worth a place
in the garden. The Wattles show considerable
variation in form and size, some being very taU wide-
spreading trees, others being low, almost trailing
bushes, rambling along among herbage and low
shrubs, only a few inches from the ground. The
name Wattle is purely an Australian one, and has been
adapted from the practice of “wattling,” or the
weaving of the young pliable growths of these shrubs
in the early days, to make fences and even houses —
“wattle and daub,” or “wattle and dab,” as the
method was called. The growths were intertwined
and interwoven, afterwards being thickly smeared
over with mud and clay. The houses were then
roofed over with bark from the gum trees. In some
parts of the world these plants are called ‘ ‘ Mimosa ; ’ ’
this is wrong, as the Mimosa is a distinct genus from
the Acacia, which is the botanical name of the wattles,
although belonging to the same family, and some of
the species even shomng great similarity. There are
no Mimosas in Australia. It is a pity, too, that some
THE WATTLES.
41
of our Acacias are called Mimosa in Great Britain
and on the Continent ; it is to be hoped that this term
will be dropped, and that these plants will be known
by their correct name of Acacia, or by the more
happy Australian term “Wattles.” In some locali-
ties distinct species of Acacia are known by various
names, such as Blackwood, Myall, Lightwood,
Hickory, Mulga, etc.; but generally these terms are
too vague to be reliable, and sometimes the same
species has various common names which are reversed
and given to other species in other districts. Fre-
quently Acacia melanoxylon, the ‘ ‘ blaekwood, ' ’ is
called the “lightwood,” a name which is more often
given to Acacia implexa.
The Acacias present many forms of flowers and of
foliage. They may be separated into two main
groups, according to the forms of the foliage, one
having fern-like or feathery foliage, and the other
having flattened or rounded “leaves.” These latter
are not true leaves, but are flattened or rounded leaf-
stalks called phyllodes. The former section is known
as the “bipinnate” section, in allusion to the leaflets
doubly forming rows in a feather-like arrangement.
All wattles have the bipinnate leaves when they
are young plants, but sooner or later the phyllodinous
section lose this form and the leaves develop into
phyllodes. Examples of these may be recognised in
the Golden Wattle, which is a “phyllodinous” wattle,
and the Silver Wattle which belongs to the bipinnate
section.
Then again. Wattles naturally fall into two groups
according to their flower formation. The flowers are
42 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
usually very small and, when crowded together as
they usually are, occur in two forms. First, the
form is that of globular heads or balls, like the
Golden Wattle; and second, the flower-heads assume
the form of round elongated spikes, as in the Coastal
Wattle, Acacia longifolia Sophorae. The flowers
differ in colour very much, and all shades may be
seen from white, as in Acacia melanoxylon, to deep
golden yellow, as in Acacia pycnantha.
Acacias produce a most abundant crop of flowers.
When it is considered that each golden fluffy ball —
“dear little downy heads of gold,” as Jennings Car-
michael lovingly called them — contains from four to
twenty small flowers, and when the many golden balls
on each tree are thought of, it wiU hardly be possible
to conceive the immense number of flowers on a single
tree. These flower-heads are rich in poUen, and they
also carry a small quantity of honey, so that the
wattle-trees in flower are of great use to the bees.
Wattles usually produce an ample suppy of seed,
but the quantity of seed is very small in proportion to
the number of the flowers. If the plants, too, are
growing out of their latitude, or in a climate much
different to that of their native habitat, they do not
produce seed freely. AU wattle seeds are extremely
hard and will not readily grow unless the hard seed
coat is broken. The easiest method of breaking is to
pour boiling water over the seeds. No fear need be
entertained that the boiling water will injure the
seeds. The late Professor Tate, of South Australia,
once boiled some seeds of the Golden Wattle for
seven minutes, and in three weeks’ time every seed
3r>
Sc<irs, f>hoto.\ Acacia pravissima, F.vM.
(Ovens Acacia )
4d
■/. Seciis, />/u>lc>.\ Acacia calamilolia, Sweet.
( kood-leaveil Aciicla.)
THE WATTLES.
43
had germinated. This hard covering also protects
the growing portion of the seed from destruction and
decay. It will often be found that where land has
been cleared of a gum-tree forest, either by man for
cultivation purposes, or by a bush-fire, that a crop
of wattle seedlings at once springs into growth.
There had been no wattles in that particular area for
many years, and the question is often asked as to how
the seeds came there. They had remained dormant
in the soil for many years, probably for over fifty
years, when wattles were then growing there; then
some heating influence came along, destroyed the
hard covering, and caused the seed to at once spring
into growth.
Thus, Acacia seeds may frequently be found buried
in the soil of forests, where no Acacias are growing.
As a proof of the powers of these seeds to retain their
germinating powers after many years, Professor
Ewart, Government Botanist of Victoria, has in many
instances successfully germinated Acacia seeds
between thirty and sixty years old, and, in two in-
stances, seeds sixty-seven and sixty-eight years old.
The Wattle Day League of Victoria has issued a
list of twenty-four varieties of wattles suitable for
planting in parks and gardens, and of these, none of
which have prickly foliage, thirteen occur in Vic-
toria naturaUy, and one has since become naturalised
here.
It is generally agreed that the finest and most
beautiful Wattle is the Golden Wattle, Acacia
pycnantha. Its beautiful flossy, golden balls, which
are produced in such masses as often to hide the
44 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
foliage, make it one of the most gorgeous sights in
nature. And when the hills are covered with masses
of the trees, they are veritable hills of gold. It
thrives, too, on hiUs and uplands where there is not
a particle of surface soil, and where the clay and
stones in which it grows are hardy, dry, and sun-
baked in summer. It grows wonderfully in the min-
ing districts of the State, especially where the sur-
face has been turned over, time after time, in the
search for gold.
Acacia retinodes is another beautiful tree, the
flowers being a paler shade than the Golden Wattle.
It has a very desirable quality, that of a very ex-
tended flowering period. It has frequently been
known to be in flower for nine or ten months in suc-
cession.
Acacia leprosa is one of the most decorative and
artistic forms of Acacias. It has light weeping
stems and twigs, with long narrow phyllodes, and
along the growths are distributed the fine lemon-
coloured heads of flowers. It is not uncommon to
find some of the drooping sprays over three feet long.
To see this tree at its best one needs to visit the cool
glens and creeks in the southern part of Victoria,
where the trees fling their pendant masses of bloom
in great richness in the spring time.
Acacia melanoxylon, the blackwood, is a Wattle
not generally seen in gardens, yet its pale delicately-
coloured flowers, set in dark green foliage, form a
very beautiful contrast. This is one of the timber
trees of the Acacia genus; and the “fiddle-back”
form is one of the most beautiful of aU Australian
timbers.
THE WATTLES.
45
The lightwood, Acacia implexa, is another of the
light-flowered section of Acacias, and is frequently
to be found in coastal areas.
Acacia salicina, the “willow wattle,” so called from
the similarity of its foliage to that of the willow, is a
very decorative species. Its flowers are bright and
yellow and the foliage at times assumes a glaucous or
bluish colour.
Acacia acinacea, is one of the best of the shrub
Wattles. In the northern districts, particularly in
the clay soils of the Goulburn valley, it grows in sym-
metrical bush or shrub form, the flower-masses being
very abundant.
Acacia myrtifolia, the myrtle-leaved Acacia, is a
fine type of the low bush form, with pale lemon-
coloured and fragrant flowers with dark green
phyllodes. From its habit of furnishing ample
growths well out from the base of the plant, it should
make a very good garden hedge plant.
Of the Wattles with prickly foliage, the “Kangaroo
thorn,” Acacia armata, is the best. This is the prickly
Acacia that has long been used for hedge purposes.
It is extremely variable when grown from seed, the
resultant seedlings showing all shades of colour from
pale lemon to deep orange. Notwithstanding its
objectionable thorns, this is one of the finest of
Acacias, and a good hedge of it, well kept, is a most
desirable adjunct to a garden.
There are only four forms of the bipinnate Acacia
native to Victoria, two of which, the Black and the
Silver Wattles, are well known. Acacia dealbata,
the latter, is so called from the silvery appearance of
46 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
the foliage, and it flowers densely in early spring.
Acacia decurrens, the Black Wattle, has paler flowers
and blossoms in summer. There is a variety of
Acacia decurrens called normalis, or the Sydney
Green Wattle, which is indeed very beautiful — ^the
delicate fern-like foliage, the dense panicles of fluffy
golden flowers, so crowded as to hide the ball-shape
of each individual head, the strong upright and yet
shapely growth, all combine to produce one of the
most handsome of Wattle trees. This variety is not
a native of Victoria, but it has been planted in various
country localities for its bark, and it is now naturally
reproducing itself by means of the fallen seeds.
Acacia discolor, the Sunshine Wattle of East
Gippsland, has pinnate foliage, the leaves being very
large and the flower-heads large and scattered; and
Acacia Mitchelli, from the Grampians, is a low grow-
ing shrub with small pinnate leaves.
Of the Wattles producing the flowers in long cylin-
drical spikes, instead of in globular heads, the two
most popular are Acacia linearis and Acacia longi-
folia. There are several others, notably Acacia
Howitti, Acacia alpina, and Acacia Dallachiana — all
worthy of a place in gardens.
Acacia linearis is very free-flowering and has pale-
coloured flowers.
Acacia longifolia is very popular; it has several
varieties, and these vary in phyllode structure con-
siderably. Variety mucronata, from the Grampians,
has very narrow foliage; variety Sophorae, the sea-
coast form, has broad foliage, large flower spikes, and
is of a low-spreading habit; and variety floribunda
has broad phyllodes and large and abundant flowers.
■■ Srtirs, />hplo. \
Acacia leprosa, Sieber.
(Leper Acacia i
A. J. Relph, pholo.^
Acacia armata, R. Brn.
(Hedge Acacia).
THE WATTLES.
47
One species not commonly known, Acacia glauces-
cens, one of the Myalls, is deserving of more than
ordinary notice. Mr. J. H. Maiden, F.L.S., in his
Forest Flora of New South Wales, says of this
species: “It is one of the most lovely of all Wattles,
and therefore worthy of cultivation in large gar-
dens. ’ ’ It certainly is a most beautiful species, with
pendant, glaucous or sea-green coloured foliage and
long abundant flower-spikes. The flowers are won-
derfully fluffy and are borne in dense masses on the
tree, which is often very tall. It is hardly possible
to conceive a more handsome and decorative Wattle,
particularly when in bloom.
Acacia verticiUata is one of the prickly type of
wattles, the short thorny phyllodes being arranged
regularly around the stem. The cylindrical flower
spikes are short, and pale lemon coloured. This
wattle is much appreciated as a pot plant for English
conservatories. It seems unusual for an Australian
Wattle to be considered as a conservatory or a hot-
house pot plant. Yet in England, Europe and
America, they are popular house plants, making a
fine show of bloom in the spring time.
The Wattles are all hardy and need to be grown
under hardy conditions. They will thrive satis-
factorily with a minimum water supply; they must
have no manure of any kind, and they succeed best
in a well-drained soil. They may be cut back and
pruned without any fear of damage if pruned after
flowering-time, and the fine resultant gro\vth will be
a surprise to the operator.
48 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
CHAPTER VI.
Daisies and Everlastings.
Everybody knows these flowers well;
they are typical flowers of the great
and important Compositae or Composite
family, so called because what seems to be
a flower is really very many small flowers packed
closely together in one composite or collected flower-
head. These small flowers are called florets: they
are usually insignificant, and yet, if closely examined,
they show a perfect flower structure. Each floret is
capable of producing seed, and that is the reason why
we get so many seed from one “flower” of an Aster, a
Zinnia, or a Dahlia. The florets are packed closely
together — sometimes there are very few florets and
sometimes a great number — and usually there is an
ornamental coloured row of large petal-like structures
which are not really petals, but what are called
bracts or ray-florets. Thus what appears to be a
single Dahlia, a single Daisy, or a single Sunflower,
is really a head of many floAvers collected closely
together, with the outside row of florets each having
an enlarged structure like a petal. The “double”
forms of these flowers have these ray-florets developed
so that each individual flower has one, as well as the
outside row.
The Composite family is a very extensive one,
which is represented in every country of the world;
DAISIES AND EVERLASTINGS.
49
there are hundreds of species in Australia, and in
Victoria we have considerably over two hundred.
Sometimes they are tall trees, sometimes fine sturdy
shrubs, and often they are low-spreading herbs. There
are only two Composites that here assume the form
of trees: one is the musk-leaf or musk tree, botani-
cally known as Olearia argophyUa, and sometimes
called by botanists Aster argophyllus; the other is
the blanket-leaf tree, known as Bedfordia salicina.
These are two elegant trees, the backs of the leaves
having a whitish covering. In the musk tree it is
very close and does not appear prominently ; it gives
the leaves a silvery appearance; but in the blanket-
leaf tree the backs of the leaves are covered with
thick, white, woolly-like hairs, giving the leaves a
blanket-like appearance. On account of this hairy
vestiture, these trees should not be grown where
smoke or dust is prevalent. These would settle on
the foliage, making the tree have a perpetual dirty
appearance. They prefer coolness and shade, and a
moist soil.
The genera of this order that are, on the whole,
the most attractive in appearance, are those which
comprise the plants familiarly known as Everlast-
ings, the genera names being Helichrysum and Helip-
terum. The common yellow Everlasting, so much
grown in gardens, is Helichrysum bracteatum. It is
a native of every State of Australia. The original
colour was yellow, but seed variations or sports have
occurred, and now we have Everlastings of all shades
and’colours. It will often be noticed that one plant,
supposed to bear flowers of a certain colour, produces
D
50 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
a flower-head of quite a different colour to the ori-
ginal or proper one. This is known to botanists as
“ bud- variation, ” or to gardeners as “sporting” or a
“sport.” It is often possible by saving and plant-
ing the seeds of these flowers, or by taking the shoot
on which they grow and grafting or layering it, or
by growing it as a cutting, to obtain permanent
plants of the new colour. This is one way by which
many of our beautiful garden flowers have been pro-
duced. So far no one has been able to give a suffi-
cient reason for “sports,” and we are reaUy not much
further advanced than the old Cornishman’s explana-
tion, “Where ’tis, there ’tis.” Some people credit
the bees with the work, “the bees coloured the
flower, ’ ’ they say. The bee is certainly a clever little
insect, but this work of bud-variation cannot be
credited to it, clever as it is. Certainly the bee, in
carrying the pollen from one flower to another flower
of the same family, wiU cause the seed when grown, to
give plants with flowers of another colour. This is
called hybridising. But the bee can never change
the colours of the flowers on the plants themselves.
One of the most beautiful Composites is Helichry-
sum datum. This plant has not yet been brought
into general cultivation. It is also a native of New
South Wales and Queensland, and in Victoria it is
found only in East Gippsland. It is a tall shrubby
branching plant, about eight or ten feet in height,
with woolly-backed leaves, similar to those of the
blanket tree, and in early summer it is covered with
large flowers, pure silvery white. When moving in
the wind, with the sunlight plajdng on the shrub, it
DAISIES AND EVERLASTINGS.
51
appears to be invested with a glorious silvery sheen
on every part.
There are other shrubby forms of this genus, and
they, too, have a beauty of their own. Two of them
are found as Alpine shrubs, only in the north-east of
the State: that is, in the Alps and Buffalo moun-
tains. They are botanically known as Helichrysum
baccharoides, and Helichrysum rosmarinifolium.
Both are handsome shrubs, the latter especially so.
The flower-heads range in colour from white, pink,
to red in the latter; and in the former they are yel-
lowish. Quite a number of our Everlastings are of
uncommon beauty: Waitzia corymbosa, from the Mal-
ice district, is one of a glowing yellow, with fine large
flowers; another, Ixodia achilleoides, a pure white
species found growing in the Mallee and the west
coastal district; and many others are worthy of
notice.
The Aster genus is well represented, too. This is
a very wdespread section. It assumes many forms,
and to those who are only familiar with the Asters
grown in gardens, our native Asters seem very un-
familiar. One has already been mentioned — the
Musk Tree. Several other shrubby forms, mostly
with white flowers, are common everywhere. Most
of them grow in the Wimmera and MaUee districts,
and brighten up those places considerably in spring-
time. Aster stellulatus, one of these shrubby forms,
has already been introduced into gardens; its silver-
backed leaves, its masses of pure snowy flowers, the
pendant habit of the bush when in flower, all combine
to give a pleasing effect. Another species. Aster
52 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
myrsinoides, is growing in favour, and it is now
advertised in English catalogues.
One of the synonyms of Aster is Olearia, and plants
of this genus are often so termed. Thus the last-
mentioned plant may also be Olearia myrsinoides. A
very closely related species is Olearia speciosa, a
Grampian plant. These shrubs are aU suited to
ordinary garden soils.
Aster exul is found in the dry district coun-
try. It has large individual flowers, pure white,
and carried in flne distinctive clusters. The Alpine
Daisy, Celmisia longifolia, sometimes called Aster
celmisia, found only in the mountain regions, is cer-
tainly a handsome plant. Its leaves, springing from
the root crown, covered particularly on the backs with
a mat of silvery and velvety hairs, form a crown
from which rise the silvery stems, often a foot high,
with large white terminal daisy flowers, many spring-
ing from one tuft or crown of foliage. The white
flowers, which are frequently two inches across, are
tipped with purple on the back of the ray florets.
The Alpine regions are gay with masses of this flower
in January.
The little Daisies are so plentiful everywhere and
withal so modest, growing and trailing in low situa-
tions, shining among grass and herbage, of shades of
heliotrope, gradually merging and fading to white;
they are true Australian representatives of their
Scotch relation of which Robert Burns wrote :
“Wee, modest, erimson-tippM flower,
Thou’st met me in an evil hour;
11. P. I) k kins, photo.]
Acacia pycnantha, Benth.
(Golden Wattle.)
lE
2e
/>//(>/(>.] Acacia lon)<if<>lia, var. Sopliorae.
DAISIES AND EVERLASTINGS.
53
For I maun crush amang the stoure
Thy slender stem;
To spare thee now is past my power,
Thou bonnie gem.”
Our daisies are known to botanists as Brachycome;
only one species has been brought into commerce as a
garden flower, and that comes from Western Austra-
lia. It is catalogued in seedsmen’s lists as the Swan
River Daisy.
Several Victorian species of Brachycome would
make dainty and useful garden plants. It would
only be necessary to collect the seed from the old
flower heads, and plant it, when it would germinate
readily. Brachycome diversifoUa, a fairly tall
white-flowered species; Brachycome multifida, a low
plant with heliotrope flowers, and Brachycome
graminea, similarly coloured to the former species
are common in all parts, and would grow in any
garden and give satisfaction.
One uncommon plant of the daisy family grows in
the Grampians and in the humid valleys of Gipps-
land. It is known as Humea elegans, and unless
botanically examined it would never occur to any-
one to class it in the daisy family. There are
only three or four florets in each headlet and these are
very small. The plant is usually called the tobacco
plant, from the large pungently-scented leaves, which
are similar to those of the tobacco. The plant is a
biennial, that is, it has a life of only two years. Bien-
nial plants generally take the first year or season to
produce their growth, flowering in the second season,
and then dying off after the seeding time. When
54 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
flowering, thia Humea sends up a long stem, sometimes
six feet in height from which hang in drooping hun-
dreds, very small delicate flowers, sometimes silvery
white, sometimes pink, and often a rich crimson. The
weeping, plume-hke character of the large head of
small flowers is of a very decorative appearance. Un-
fortunately, to some people, this beautiful plant is of
a very troublesome nature, possessing the power to
cause painful irritation when coming in contact with
any part of the skin. The effect is like that of a
severe attack of eczema, the parts affected swelling
and being painful for some days. Fortunately, the
large majority of people are immune, and may handle
the plant with impunity, and very few people are
susceptible to its irritant action.
This species is a most decorative plant for garden
culture. It is difficult to describe the loveliness of its
dainty drooping plumes. Although favouring cool
and sheltered positions in its native home, it grows
well on banks, rockworks, and in garden beds, pro-
vided the soil is good and moist.
In Switzerland it is a popular pastime for flower
lovers to obtain a flower of a beautiful plant which
grows on the Alps, and which is known as the Eidel-
weiss. This is also collected for sale by the moun-
taineers. In the Victorian Alps there grows a very
close relation of this plant which is often and cor-
rectly called Eidelweiss, being botanically known as
Leontopodium Catipes. It forms close tufts of a
silvery white growth from which the woolly tufted
flower heads rise, sometimes six inches in height.
The flannel flower, Actinotus Helianthi, which is
so popular in Sydney in springtime, and which is
F. L. Reeves, photo.]
Celmisia longifolia, Cass.
(Mountain Daisy.)
Ik
2v
Rclph, photo. I A. J . Retph, photo.^
Micromyrtus microphylla, Hentli. Actinotus Helinntlii.
(Baecken plicala. ) (Flannel FlcA\er. )
DAISIES AND EVERLASTINGS.
55
often looked upon solely as a New South Wales
species, has also been found in East Victoria, but it
is not common there. It is a perennial plant, and
very attractive with its petal-like bracts, which are
similar in appearance to strips of soft white flannel.
The general appearance of the flower woiild lead one
to suppose that it should be placed in the daisy
family. But the flower structure differs considerably
from the daisies, and it is placed naturally in the
Umbelliferae order. The whole plant is exceedingly
attractive; the clean flannel-like appearance of the
flower, which is not at all stiff, the firm stems which
show off the flower so well, the white hairy or wooUy
vestiture of the stem and the foliage, all combine to
form a most dainty and decorative plant.
56 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
CHAPTER VII.
The Myrtle Family.
There are no species of the true Myrtle growing
naturally in Victoria, but there are many re-
presentatives of the family, some of which have
become of world-wide importance. This is especially
the case with the Eucalyptus genus, which is placed
naturally in the Myrtle family, or as it is botanicaUy
known, Myrtaceae.
To the Myrtle family belong plants of all magni-
tudes, from small prostrate plants to large trees,
which may be classed among the giants in the tree
world. Plants belonging to this family may
readily be recognised by the presence of semi-trans-
parent dots in the foliage, which contain a fragrant
and volatile oil, and by the usually numerous stamens.
When the leaves of any members of the Myrtle
family are crushed or bruised, they usually give out a
fragrant odour, owing to the presence of the oil in
the glands or dots. This odour must not be accepted
as an infallible guide, for plants belonging to other
divisions also emit a spicy odour, notably some of the
mint bush plants which belong to the Labiateae, and
also some of the Boronias which belong to the Ruta-
ceae.
The fruit of the various myrtaceous plants is more
usually in the form of hard nut-like seeds or seed-
pods, such as occur in the tea trees, or in the gum
THE MYRTLE FAMILY.
57
trees. Occasionally the seed is surrounded by a
fleshy substance forming a berry; this form of fruit,
however, only occurs in one Victorian species,
Eugenia Smithii. To the Myrtle family belong aU
the so-called “tea” trees, bottle brushes, and gum
trees. The most prominent and important genus of
plants in this family is the Eucalyptus, which is of
such consequence as to deserve a special chapter to
itself.
Next in importance come the various shrubs and
trees known as tea (or ti) trees. The leaves of these
plants are not used for making tea, as one would sup-
pose; the name has arisen as a result of the use of
the leaves of one species, Leptospermum scoparium,
to make a tea infusion, which was used during one of
Captain Cook’s expeditions as a remedy for scurvy.
The modern spelling of this common name is ti-tree,
a corruption from the original common name. There
is no reason for the change, and the old spelling, if a
common name be used, should be adhered to.
The tea-trees as here known are naturally separated
into two genera, Leptospermum and Melaleuca, but
the former is really the tea-tree section, the latter
being more allied to the bottle-brushes or Callistemon.
The Leptospermum family has open single flowers,
generally white, but sometimes cream or pink. There
are usually five petals, and these are fairly large.
The commonest is Leptospermum laevigatum, which is
our ordinary coastal tea-tree, and which abounds
along the sand hills adjacent to the sea-shore; it also
occurs inland. It is covered with masses of bloom
in spring, and is a handsome shrub w’hether in nature
58 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
or cultivated. This species makes a most excellent
hedge, being quick growing and easily kept in bounds
by pruning and cutting.
The young plants may be bfted from their sandy
home at the seacoast, or in the bush, and transplanted
directly into any well worked garden soil. If shel-
tered with twigs until they are established, they
quickly grow, and make themselves quite at home in
their new habitat. They should be well trimmed,
and kept within bounds, cutting them back after the
flowers have dropped in spring. Although hardy,
this species is very readily attacked by scale insects.
When that occurs, a spraying with a contact insecti-
cide, such as weak red-oil emulsion, is necessary.
The whole of the species of Leptospermums are
worthy of cultivation ; some have smooth and
semi-woolly leaves, others have prickly foliage. AU
the species flower profusely and the bushes are very
elegant at flowering time. Leptospermum scoparium
is the low prickly shrub frequently met with in the
bush; Leptospermum myrsinoides is another prickly
form; the former is taUer than the latter, and the
latter is frequently found bearing pink flowers. A
variety of the form has been found in New Zealand
with bright scarlet flowers, and it is now being gener-
ally cultivated in gardens. One of our finest forms
is a variety of Leptospermum lanigerum called
grandiflorum.' This variety grows in the Grampians,
where it frequents the moist spots on the hills and
mountains. It is not uncommon to find it with
flowers three-quarters of an inch across.
Closely allied to Leptospermum is the genus
Baeckea. The flowers are similar, but generally
J. Relf’li, photo^
Callistemon pithyoides, Mig.
(\ ellovv Bottle-Brush.)
3k
J . Ri’lfi/i, plioU).]
Thryptomcne Mitchelliana, F.vM.
4^■
THE MYETLE FAMILY.
59
Tery much smaller; the growth of the plants of this
genus is much lighter and finer than that of Leptos-
permum. Baeckea linifolia is well known as a dainty
little heath-like shrub with small white flowers.
Baeckea plicata, which has been under cultivation for
many years, is more correctly named Micromyrtus
microphyUa. Another name given by the late Baron
von Mueller was Thryptomene ciliata. It is a low-
growing, diffuse shrub, with pinkish flowers chang-
ing to red wdth age. It is found in the Mallee and
in the Grampians; in the latter locality it grows in
immense clumps of dozens of bushes.
This is one of those low shrubs that should be in
every garden where such dainty plants as Heath
and Daphne are grown. It never grows large, but it
makes up for that defect, if defect it be, by a won-
derful profusion of bloom, lasting for a very long
time on the plant.
The Grampian shrub, Thryptomene Mitchelliana,
ii without doubt, one of the most handsome and
decorative of our native plants. Its erect habit of
growth, its distinctive foliage, its wonderful masses
of pink and white starry flowers, and its long period
of flowering all combine to make a most desirable
shrub for the garden. It grows readily from seed,
especially if the seed be collected from a garden plant,
and if it be fresh. Too much emphasis cannot be
placed upon the beauty and elegance of this shrub;
and although it has been placed in plant nurseries
lists for some years, it is not nearly so frequent in
gardens as it should be. It possesses to a marked
degree, those characteristics so noticeable in the Aus-
60 NATIVE FLOWERS OP VICTORIA.
tralian flora, abundanoo of flovrers, and an axtandad
flowering period.
The Melaleucas are not correctly tea-trees, but
somehow the name has become attached to this genus
as well. The leaves are small, the habit of the shrubs
generally erect, and the flowers are like small bottle-
brushes. The colour of the flowers extends from
pink and purplish to yellow and white. While the
flowers of many species are of decorative value, parti-
cularly those bearing pink and purplish flowers, the
local forms of Melaleuca are not so decorative for
garden work as are those of some of the other States.
Melaleuca hypericifolia carries the largest flowers
and is of a red colour, while Melaleuca gibbosa and
Melaleuca decussata, with purplish flowers, are
always very decorative. Another plant, Kun-
zea parvifolia, having pink flowers, is very simi-
lar in appearance to the Melaleucas, and is worthy
of a place in our gardens.
The genus of plants known as bottle-brushes is
botanically known as Callistemon. These are ele-
gant, hardy, and uncommon-looking shrubs, especially
at flowering-time. The young leaves are bright in
colour and make the plants very decorative in
the spring. Their flowers are usually in vari-
ous shades of red, two species being yellowish.
Callistemon brachyandrus bears an elegant flower
with clusters of scarlet stamens and yellow anthers;
Callistemon coccineus and Callistemon lanceolatus
have flowers in shades of crimson and are very large ;
Callistemon linearis has a rose-coloured brush with
yellow stamens. These shrubs all retain their seed-
3k
A’.'//’//, !<hoto.\ Kuiizea parvifolia, Scliauer.
(StiialMeax e<l Kunzf-n )
A. J. Relph, photoA\
Lhotzkya ^enetylloides, F.vM.
• *
THE MYRTLE FAMILY.
61
vessels for many years, the seeds having the power
of delaying germination. When the vessels are
removed from the plant and dried, the seeds drop out.
They are then easily grown. A pure white form of
Callistemon lanceolatus has been seen in Gippsland,
but it is very rare.
The genus Callistemon is hardly a class of plants
to be grown in small gardens, owing to their strag-
gling habit of growth : but among shrubberies and in
large plots, they are very worthy of a place.
Several other plants in the Myrtle family must be
mentioned before we pass on to the Eucalypts. Two
closely-related plants, and these only occurring in the
Grampians, are Calycothrix Sullivani and Lhotzkya
genetylloides. It seems almost a pity that such a
lovely plant as the latter has so harsh-sounding a
name. It has a beautifully dainty habit, light and
loose, and the starrj^ pinkish flowers are set off by
the background of dark green foliage. The former
plant grows more robustly and is far more generous
in its flower supply. It is not uncommon to And
shrubs of this plant eight or ten feet high simply a
fluffy mass of starry pinkish and white flowers.
When the plants are young it is somewhat difficult to
distinguish between the two ; but it may be noted that
while Calycothrix bears its flowers in dense racemes.
Lhotzkya carries only a few in each headlet.
The last three plants of this section that will be
mentioned are all natives in Victoria only to East
Gippsland; from thence they extend into New South
Wales and Queensland.
Eugenia Smithii is the only representative of its
genus in Victoria and is usually known by its native
62 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
name of Lilly-PiUy. Naturally it is a fine, tall,
spreading tree, with glossy foliage. The flowers
are insignificant. But, in early spring, the berries
make up for the poor flowers, for the trees are then
laden with heavy clusters of purplish or white suc-
culent berries, nearly on one inch in diameter. The
“Lilly-PiUy” is a common tree along the Snowy
River and other rivers of East Gippsland and in the
adjacent jungles, and its beauty adds largely to the
landscape. In gardens it is suitable for specimen
trees or for hedges. It prefers good soil, and does
not seem to be averse to manure conditions; at the
same time it is hardy enough for any soil. It makes
better growth if weU pruned and trimmed, especially
when used as a hedge or a shelter, and the glossiness
of the young growth is very effective. Unfortun-
ately, under cultivation it is very subject to attacks
of the black flat scale, Aspidiotus Rossi, but the prun-
ing and also spraying wiU eradicate that trouble.
The fruit is edible, being somewhat acid in taste.
Tristania laurina, the “Kanuka,” is a compact
growing shrub with glossy foliage and clusters of
small yeUow flowers. The timber of this small tree
is dark red and very hard.
The last of the Myrtle family to be mentioned has
often been called a Eucalypt that has no Eucalypt.
To all ordinary observers, Angophora intermedia is
just an ordinary gum tree. The tree, bark, foliage
and flowers are all typical of the Eucalypts, but the
seed-pods are more angular than those of the gum
tree. The main distinction, however, is that Ango-
phora has no cap to cover the flower bud, as is found
THE arYKTLE FAMILY.
63
in the Eucalypts, and it is this cap or cover — some-
times there are two — which distinguishes the
Eucalypts from aU other genera. The Angophora
— ^there are several other species in the other States —
are generally more shapely and elegant than the
Eucalypts, and they are desirable trees to grow, espe-
cially on lawns or in specimen groups.
64 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
CHAPTER Vm.
The M5nrtle Family ; The Eucalypts.
The Eucalypts, or as they are commonly called,
Gum trees, are the most common and the most
widely distributed of aU our native trees.
They were called gum trees many years ago, on ac-
count of their secreting a resinous gum, which fre-
quently exudes from the tree. They are purely
Australian trees, as, with the exception of a few
species which are found in some of the islands to
the north-west of Australia, the whole of the
Eucalyptus genus is foimd naturally only in Aus-
tralia.
The name Eucalyptus was suitably chosen, meaning
weU or completely covered, as the covering which
drops off the flower bud when the flower is opening is
the symbol of this genus. We are most familiar with
this covering or cap in the blue gum tree. Eucalyptus
globulus. The blue gum is a most beautiful tree,
with large distinctive flowers, and with a bluey-white,
waxy covering on the young leaves. It is not a tree
to he generally cultivated in gardens, as it does not
live long under cultivated conditions. It natur-
ally grows in cool and wooded valleys, hence shelter
is its main requirement. Still, for its beautiful
foliage, even as a young shrub, and short-lived as it
thus may he, it forms a beautiful sight in any garden.
This species has been planted in various towns as a
street-avenue tree, but for this purpose it can never
THE EUCALYPTS.
65
be claimed that successful results are obtained. In-
deed, it has invariably been an utter failure when
planted as a street tree. It is one of the gums, too,
that resents pruning, or cutting back.
In the Northern Hemisphere, this species is grown
as a greenhouse plant. In fact, the Eucalypts gener-
ally, and also the Acacias, are largely in use in Eng-
land and elsewhere as conservatory pot plants, al-
though in the warmer parts of France and Italy they
thrive remarkably well as garden or park trees. In
some parts of America the gums, notably the blue
gums, and some of the other hardwoods are also
being extensively grown; and some pessimists have
declared that before long we shaU be sending to
America for our own timbers. Certainly there is
great need for re-forestation, as it is being found
more and more each year that our timbers, particu-
larly our Eucalyptus timbers, are becoming scarcer,
and more costly to obtain.
A far better species for street planting would be
the mahogany gum of East Gippsland, Eucalyptus
botryoides. This is a beautiful species, hardy, orna-
mental in outline, with fine distinctive and striking
foliage. In Victoria it is only native to the eastern
section, but on account of its hardiness and attractive
appearance, it has been planted in almost every divi-
sion of the State, and it is thriving equally well in
the north as in south. Its habit is naturally shapely
and decorative, and this, combined with the glossy
character of the large leaves, makes it a desirable tree
either as a specimen tree or as a shelter group. Like
all Eucalypts, this species is amenable to fair treat-
66 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
ment and to good soil. Two seedlings of this variety
were planted at Heidelberg, one in poor and dry soil
and the other in rich soil, well-watered. At the end
of the four years, the former was a poor specimen
about six feet high, while the latter was a beautifuUy-
formed tree, fully twenty feet high. This is a useful
species too, for its timber is one of the hardest and
most durable, and very much resembles that of the
red gum. Eucalyptus rostrata.
The red gum is only suitable for growing in park
lands and other large areas; and there it succeeds
best in the moister parts. Except under forest con-
ditions, it is neither straight nor tall; but it assumes
an irregular spreading habit, and thus it is one of
our truly picturesque gum trees. With strong,
variously coloured trunk, with sprawling, spreading
and scattered limbs, the weaker ones being somewhat
drooping and pendant, this Eucalypt, when mature, is
one of the typical old gums that are a feature of our
Australian landscapes.
Another very ornamental tree is the honey-eucalypt.
Eucalyptus melliodora, which is commonly knows as
“ Yellow-box.” This species is not so regular in
growth as some other eucalypts ; yet its open, spread-
ing, and often bent and drooping limbs, its blotched
and many-coloured bark, particularly in the spring-
time, all combine to form a very pleasing picture,
particularly when the tree is growing in open or
park lands. Like a large number of Eucalj'pts, this
species generally takes two years to bring its flowers
to maturity, hence it can be relied upon to produce
a good crop of blossoms only once in two years. But
THE EUCALYPTS.
67
when the flowers do come, the tree is simply a mass
of creamy bloom, fragrant and beautiful. At this
time the trees are the happy hunting ground of
myriads of bees, and other nectar-loving insects,
which come for the large quantities of nectar which
is given out by the blossoms. This tree is one of the
best friends of the bee-keepers, on account of the
abundance and quality of its honey-nectar. It is a
moderately quick growing tree, and suitable for
groups in parks and paddocks.
A tree that should be more grown than it is at
present is Eucalyptus polyanthema, frequently
known as the red-box tree. Its habit is bushy and
compact and it flowers profusely, but its outstanding
feature is the glaucous-blue or greyish colour of the
leaves, which are not long and pointed like those of
most Eucalypts, but broadly oval or rounded in shape.
It would thus form a prominent feature in the fore-
ground, when the trees in the background were of a
dark green colour.
A very popular and well-known gum tree, and one
which is really beautiful, is the sugar gum. Eucal-
yptus corynocalyx. Baron von Mueller originally
named this tree Eucalyptus cladocalyx, the specific
name meaning a flattened calyx ; but afterwards, for
reasons so far unexplained, he afterwards renamed it
Eucalyptus corynocalyx, the specific name meaning
a club-shaped calyx.
Even in 1866, when Bentham published the third
volume of his Flora Australiensis, he described this
species as a “ tall elegant shrub.” It is a hardy,
quick growing and conspicuous tree; its foliage is
68 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
large and glossy ; it produces dense panicles of prom-
inent flowers; and it grows with a flne round bole
and an upright stem. Whether grown as an indi-
vidual tree, as a background belt, or as a hedge, it
is always noticeable and pleasant. Of aU Eucalypts,
this species responds most readily to pruning and
trimming. It may be cut back and shaped, when it
wiU respond with a vigorous and plentiful growth,
breaking away low down, sometimes to the base of
the trunk. In one of our inland towns some very
flne avenues of sugar gum were growing in the streets.
These had to be considerably reduced, owing to the
introduction of electric-lighting wires. In every
instance, dozens of trees were cut off direct into the
main trunk, about ten feet from the ground; all the
limbs were lopped off, and nothing but the trunk
was left. The trees aU shortly after broke away into
a strong and bushy growth from verj’’ many dormant
buds, forming a dense and compact top. Subse-
quently, a fine head was formed on each tree and very
few trees died as a result of this severe treatment.
Experienced tree-pruners would never have dared
to treat the trees so drastically, but the result attained
is a response and a reward to the unconscious follow-
ing out of the old proverb: “ Fools rush in, where
angels fear to tread.” Not that all experienced tree-
pruners are angels, by any means.
In one of our mountainous districts, a row of this
species was once grown as a hedge, the young plants
being planted about eighteen inches apart. The
hedge was trimmed as any ordinary hedge would be,
and formed quite a good compact growth, not unlike
F. R. Biiiliiie, photo.^
Eucalyptus melliodora, Cunn.
( \ ellow Box Tree.)
IG
Rclpli. photoA //• /’• Pill-ins. photo. \
Eucalyptus corynocalyx, F.vM. Eucalyptus )*lobulus, l.ahill,
(Sugar Guru.) (Blue Gum.)
THE EUCALYPTS.
69
a privet hedge. This is one of the few Eucalypts
that usually produces an annual crop of blossom. It
may miss an odd season, but even that is not frequent.
For that reason, and also on account of its remark-
ably quick growth, it should certainly be largely
planted where bees are kept. For, in addition to its
other qualities, it flowers very profusely, and the
honey is reported to be of good quality.
Eucalyptus maculata, the spotted gum, is a stately,
handsome tree, with smooth whitish bark, from which
the older bark falls off in patches, giving the trunk a
spotted appearance. The tree is naturally weU-
shaped and grows very taU. In his Forest Flora of
New South Wales, Mr. J, F. Maiden, Government
Botanist of that State, records a specimen to be three
hundred feet in height. There is a very fine speci-
men of this tree growing in the ^lelbourne Govern-
ment House Domain; and another beautiful one is
growing near the main entrance to the Geelong
Botanic Gardens.
The lemon-scented gum is considered to be merely
a variety of this species, being named Eucalyptus
maculata, var. citriodora. It differs only in the
subtle fragrance of the oil in the leaves, which is
lemon-scented, and in the whiter and clearer appear-
ance of its bark, the older bark dropping off more
readily and leaving none of the spotted appearance.
This, too, is a handsome tree, and the light trunk
and limbs are set off to great advantage when planted
in front of some darker foliaged and dense growing
trees. This variety is not a native of Victoria.
The common names of the Eucalyptus family' are
very much confused; there are quite a number of
70 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
red-gums, two or three blue-gums, several pepper-
mints and stringybarks, mountain-asb, and ironbarks,
while the terms, box and hickory, are applied to trees
of other genera besides Eucalyptus. This is in a
way unfortunate, especially where timbers are ordered
commercially on the authority of their common names,
for it frequently happens that, when two timbers own
the same common name in different localities, one is
much inferior to the other. Thus an inferior blue-
gum might be supplied where the superior blue-gum
is wished for.
There is a certain classification for common names,
which is more or less elastic and sometimes over-
lapping. The term gum-tree originally referred to
any eucalypt, but it seems now to refer to those
which have a more or less smooth and shining bark,
which fiakes or peels off in large sections. The timber
is generally less close-grained in the texture than
the box eucalypts. Typical examples of this section
are the red-gum of the river fiats. Eucalyptus rostrata,
and the blue-gum of the mountain valleys. Eucalyp-
tus globulus. The box-trees have a closer and cross-
grained timber, and the bark is rough, hard, and
scaly, and finely fibrous. The honey-eucalypt, or
yellow-box. Eucalyptus melliodora, is an example
of this class. Then, sometimes trees possess united
“ gum ” and “ box ” characteristics, and thus one
of our grey-box trees. Eucalyptus hemiphloia, is
called in some districts the gum-topped box, and
Eucalyptus odorata is sometimes known as the gum-
box.
THE EUCALYPTS.
71
The peppermirits have closely fibrous bark, usually
grey in colour, with durable timber, and with leaves
strongly odorous with peppermint scent. Eucalyptus
piperita and Eucalyptus odorata are peppermints.
The stringy -barks have a bark which is very fibrous
and stringy, easily torn from the trunk, and with
hard firm wood. The common stringy-bark is
Eucalyptus macrorrhyncha, while the “messmate,” so
called from its similarity to this one, is Eucalyptus
obliqua. The “apple box,” Eucalyptus Stuartiana,
has bark of the “ stringy bark ” type, although it is
not so pronounced as in the others mentioned, being
more fiaky.
The iron-barks have hard, strong, and deeply-
rugged barks; at the same time some iron-barks have
a perfectly smooth bark.
Eucalyptus leucoxylon is commonly known as the
ironbark; it is a fine tree with fairly large flowers,
while the variety, rosea, is really handsome, with its
rose-coloured flowers. West Australia can boast the
possession of some fine ornamental eucalypts, quite
a number having red coloured flowers. In Victoria
there exists only one reddish coloured form, and that
is this variety rosea. It is a shapely and fairly taU
tree, quick growing, and well suited for a specimen
tree, for street trees, or for a decorative tree in
shrubberies. There are various shades of colour of
the flowers. The most common one has flowers of a
glowing rose pink; others are paler, while some —
and they are more uncommon — are of a rich, deep,
cerise colour. The tree commences to flower about
its third year, and the flowering period is of extended
72 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
duration. Some specimens growing in cultivation
have had a bloom period for over four months of the
year.
To one Victorian tree, Eucalyptus paniculata,
Baron von Mueller gave the name of box-ironbark.
The red ironbark is Eucalyptus sideroxylon, and in
this case the wood being so hard, it may be called iron-
wood (for that is the meaning of its name) as well
as ironbark.
Other common names, mountain-ash, woollybutt,
bloodwood, blackbutt, mahogany, blackwood, and
others, are generally applied to definite trees, although
these, too, sometimes apply to two or three species.
lx
A'll/’Ji. f>ito/o.\ .1. J. Relph, phoio.^
l^riicliyloma idaplinoides, licntli. Horonia pinnata, Smith.
(Pinnate Boronia.)
A. J. Rclph, photo.\
Leptospermum myrsinoides, Selech.
4\
THE PROTEA FAmLY.
73
CHAPTER IX.
The Protea Feimily and its Allies.
PROTEUS was one of the ancient Greek Gods, a
son of Neptune, the old sea god, who had the
power of changing his shape at will; and in
suggestion of the great diversity of its species, the
genus Protea and the order Proteaceae were named
after him.
The family of Proteaceae contains many plants so
apparently different, that it is hard for the novice to
believe that such plants, presenting so many appar-
ently differing forms, should belong to the same
family. Although the flowers of the different genera
are very different in appearance, one outstanding
feature is prominent, and that is the hard leathery
texture of the mature foliage of almost every species.
It would seem as if Nature had so allowed these plants
to gradually acquire the hardened foliage that they
might adapt themselves to hard, hot and dry climatic
and soil conditions, and so to sustain life under the
most trying circumstances.
Observers are familiar with either the native
Honeysuckle, the GreviUeas, or the Waratah. These
are aU members of the Protea order. The peculiar
form of the individual flowers, which are generally
crowded together in heads of from a few to dozens
of flowers, is always noticeable, and the very long
pistil and stigma are characteristic of the family.
Most members of the Protea family, too, are rich in
74 NATIVE FLOWEES OF VICTOEIA.
nectar or flower honey, and so these flowers are valu-
able for bees.
The flowers of Proteaeeae always have four petals,
usually of unequal length, and in such genera as
Banksia, GreviUea, Hakea, and Telopea, the style is
generally elongated and thickened at the end — where
it is curved — somewhat Like a club, the club-hke
formation being the stigma.
The honeysuckles are botanicaUy known as Banksia,
being named after one of the world-famous botanists.
Sir Joseph Banks. There are nearly flfty honey-
suckles native to Australia, most of which occur only
in West Australia; in Victoria we have half a dozen,
the most ornamental being Banksia coUina. This is
found along the costal and Gippsland districts from
Momington to Cape Howe. From the appearance of
the shining black styles, which are curved inwards
before the individual flowers fully develop, it is often
called the hairpin honeysuckle. It is a decorative
low bush, and very hardy.
Banksia marginata is the yeUow flowered shrub so
common throughout the State, while Banksia integri-
folia, which usually has the margin of its leaves quite
even and level, is the ordinary coastal honeysuckle.
More handsome than either is Banksia serrata, the
saw-leaved honeysuckle, which is fairly common in
East Gippsland. It is an irregular growing tree, with
leaves having saw-like edges, the teeth being very
large. Banksias may be grown generally in garden
soils, but manure should be withheld from them.
The more ornamental of Proteaceous plants are the
GreviUeas. None of our Victorian species assume the
THE PROTEA FAMILY.
75
siae of tall trees; they are all low bushes or shrubs;
it is in the warmer States that the tree Grevilleas are
found. Frequently these plants are called “ comb ”
or “ tooth-brush ” flowers, owing to their peculiar
similarity to those articles.
One of our finest is Grevillea Victorias, named after
Queen Victoria by the late Baron von Mueller. This
plant grows in the alpine districts, and bears very
large red flowers. Grevillea oleoides, the olive-leaved
Grevillea, is another bright red species, and worthy
of our attention. Grevillea alpina is the red and
yellow form which is fairly common, and sometimes
plants are found with yellow and with orange
flowers.
Grevillea rosmarinifoUa, the rosemary-leaved Gre-
villea, is one that is largely in cultivation, and one
that succeeds well. Its dark green foliage sets off
the bright pink flowers, and is always to be admired.
Two shrubs must not be omitted, Grevillea aqui-
folium and GreviUea ilicifolia. These are ilallee and
Grampian plants and are very similar in appearance.
They have red flowers, and foliage similar to the Ilex
or holly, hence the name of the latter species.
The GreviUeas should be more largely grown in
gardens than they are at present. They are all showy,
decorative shrubs, with a good display of flowers, and
perfectly hardy. They mostly flower for a long
period, and are not at all particular as regards soil
qualities.
There is another genus of plants which possess
leaves very similar to the leaves of the hoUy. These
are called Lomatia. There are three species which
76 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
are common throughout the southern and eastern
portions of Victoria, but the flowers are not of excep-
tional merit.
The New South Wales Waratah is well known, but
the Victorian species is not so familiar. This is
known as Telopea oreades and occurs in East Gipps-
land only. There it grows to the height of twenty
feet or more, forming a fine spreading tree. In the
springtime the trees are covered with masses of bright
red flowers, and it is a fine sight to look down from
the hillsides upon a group of Waratah trees in full
bloom growing along the creek banks. The flower,
although conspicuous, is much smaller than that of
New South Wales species, which grows on a low,
shrubby bush.
The genus Persoonia possesses some very decora-
tive shrubs, all with yellow flowers, the majority
occurring in the East and North-east. The fruits are
usually carried in clusters, green in colour, and fairly
succulent and sweet. There are about a dozen species
native to Victoria, aU reproducing readily from seed.
The Persoonias are aU attractive plants, with good
dark green foliage, some being slightly spinescent,
especially Persoonia juniperina. The two species
arborea and linearis, are perhaps the most attractive
of aU ; the former with fine large foliage and flowers,
and the latter with narrow leaves.
The Hakeas also belong to this family. There are
about one hundred species altogether, the majority
of which, like the Banksias, are to be found in West
Australia. The Western species, too, are the more
decorative. Hakea saligna and Hakea eriantha are
F. L. Reeves. photo.\
An^ophora intermedia, D.C.
3g
,/. Relph, photo. ^
Epacris impressa, Labill.
(Heath.)
4g
THE PROTEA FAMILY.
77
good forms for garden work ; while any of the prickly
species, such as Hakea ulicina, Hakea pungioniformis
and Hakea rostrata aU make good hedge plants. The
Victorian species have white or cream coloured
flowers.
To anyone familiar with Hakea or Grevillea as a
tji)e of the Froteaceae, it would be a surprise to find
that one of the restricted Grampian plants, Conos-
permum Mitchelli, also belongs to that order. With
its flat-shaped head of wooUy white flowers, tinged
with grey, it is more like one of the Cassinias or dog-
wood bushes, of the composite order, than anything
else. This plant makes certain parts of the Gram-
pians very gay in early summer, flowering well and
profusely.
The native “ cherry ” is one of those plants which
has given our Australian flora such an unusual
reputation. It is the tree that is credited with bear-
ing cherry-like fruit, having the stone on the outside
instead of inside. This, of course, is an error, as
what appears to be the fruit — and it is usually very
small, — is a well-coloured and succulent fruit stalk,
the seed being attached at the end. The best known
species is Exocarpos cupressiformis, the generic name
meaning fruit on the outside, and the specific name
referring to the similarity of the tree and foliage, to
the Cypress or Cupressus. There are four other
species, not so common as the “ Cherry.” Among
bushmen, it is usually considered that the land on
which the Exocarpos grows, is eminently suited for
apple culture.
78 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
The Quandongs of the Mallee, of the genus Santa-
lum, the Native Cherries, and the wild gooseberries,
Leptomeria, are closely allied to the Protea family,
as are the various Mistletoe plants or Loranthus.
These plants all bear edible fruits, and in the days
when the IMallee was first settled, and cultivated fruits
were scarce, Quandong jam was quite a common
household preserve. The mistletoes are responsible
for the death of very many trees, being parasitic
plants; and, in addition to attacking native trees,
the birds which eat the fruits, drop the seeds pro-
miscuously, and the plants will become troublesome
to cultivated trees as well. The mistletoes are plants
which should not be encouraged in gardens.
The genus Isopogon, which belong to the Proteaceae
order, with its two species ceratophyllum and ane-
monifolium, is an uncommon type. The plants
assume a tufted or cushion-like form, spreading in
low growths over the ground. The small round,
yellow flowers are low set in the foliage which
is very stiff and prickly. It is of unusual form, being
smaU, hard and very much lobed, branching, or
dissected. The plants are often called “blackfellow’s
combs,” in allusion to the shape and texture of the
leaves.
THE HEATHS AND BLUEBELLS.
79
CHAPTER X.
The Heaths and Bluebells.
Heath and bell-flowers, or bluebells, are very-
close relations. They are two flowers that
everybody^ is familiar with. In winter time
many parts of the Australian bush are brilliant -with
acres of the native heath. Of all colours, from white
and pink, to the deepest shades of reds, crimsons,
lakes, scarlets, almost to deep piarple in some locali-
ties— the heath is the one winter flower that is much
sought after. From low, straggling plants in the
dry heath country, plants are not much over a foot
in height, it grows to an irregular bush, very much
higher in the mountain regions.
It is probably in the Grampians that our native
heath attains its finest beauty. There the greatest
range of colours is found ; there the ‘ ‘ bells ’ ’ are
extremely large ; and there the bushes are very tall.
One bush in that portion of Wonderland called “ The
Silent Street,” I measured to be over eight feet in
height. It is often noticeable that the colour of heath
is limited to districts. That is, in one locality the
whole of the heath plants will bear white flowers, in
another, pink, and in another, red. There appears to
be no reason for this, for it will be again found that
all colours are growing intermingled in the same area.
Very rarely “ double ” forms of this plant are found,
that is, plants in which the corolla, or flower petals,
are more numerous than usual. In one instance, I
80 NATIVE FLOWERS OP VICTORIA.
have opened flowers of the double form and have
found ten separate cups or beUs, all inside of each
other. Although rare, the double form is not nearly
so dainty as the ordinary form. This heath is called
Epacris impressa, and the genus is almost purely
Australian. This heath grows quite readily and
freely under cultivation, if accorded the same treat-
ment which is given to the ordinary garden heaths.
The soil must be well drained and light — sandy for
preference. The most suitable soil is a sandy peat,
with no clay. They require no manure whatever;
but an occasional top dressing of fresh peaty soil is
helpful to them. They need to be kept fairly dry in
winter, and given a good supply of moisture in
summer. This Epacris will readily transplant, if
young plants are selected, and if the roots be undis-
turbed, and it grows readily from seed. Another
species, Epacris longiflora, is recorded only from East
Gippsland, but it is frequent in New South Wales.
The flowers are larger than the common heath, and
are not so variable in colour, which is of a crimson
red, and white at the tips.
All of the other Victorian species — there are nearly
a dozen of them — have white or very pale pink
flowers.
A nearly related plant is Brachyloma daphnoides,
bearing large numbers of small white and sweetly
scented bells. This grows in the form of a low biish,
and on account of the quantity of nectar which is
secrets, it is much visited by bees.
SprengeMa incarnata is one of the heaths which
grow only on swampy ground or on stream margins.
THE HEATHS AND BLUEBELLS.
81
It is bright pink in colour, and carries its flower
heads on long stems.
A delicately beautiful heath plant, Richea Gunni,
grows in tufty masses on the top of the Buffalo and
Baw Baw mountains. From a low tuft of harsh rough
foliage, springs a flower crown, four or five inches in
height, of most delicate waxy white bells. It is one
of the most dainty and uncommon of all our heaths.
The hardier heaths belong to the genus Styphelia,
and these give flowers of all colours. Styphelia
Sonderi is a brilliantly scarlet species with large
flowers, which is found in the Grampians, the Mallee,
and Stawell districts. Its seeds are produced in the
form of succulent red berries, which are sweet and
well flavoured; they are much relished by emus, and
on that account the plant is often called the emu-
berry bush. The native cranberry, Styphelia humi-
fusa, belongs to this genus, and its sweet, succulent,
glutinous berries are often eaten by children.
Another species, Styphelia Richea, or Leucopogon
Richea, is found in the form of a bush, or low tree,
growing on the sand-hills along the sea coast. This
bears edible white berries, which are not so well
flavoured as those of the preceding species.
Styphelia adscendens, with its peculiarly twisted
greenish corolla, and Styphelia pinifolia, with yellow
flowers, which looks like a minature pine tree, are
two uncommon species worthy of notice. The heaths
which are usually cultivated in gardens do not belong
to the same order of plants as those mentioned. That
order is Epacrideae, and the order to which the
Ericas or true heaths belong is Ericaceae. There are
F
82 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
only two Victorian representatives of the latter order,
and they are both alpine plants, growing upon the
top of the mountains in the eastern districts.
The common bluebell, Wahlenbergia gracilis, is
a cousin of the heaths. It is a very variable plant,
having small flowers in some eases, and very large
flowers in others, sometimes reaching to a diameter
of one and a half inches. The plant too is variable ;
sometimes it dies annually, reproducing itself again
from seed, and at other times it forms a perennial
root crown, lasting for some years. It is usually on
granitic and volcanic soils that the flowers assume the
purest of blue colours, and produce the greatest pro-
fusion of blossoms. There is no reason why this flower
should not become as popular as any of our dwarf
blue garden flowers.
The well known Lobelia belongs to the beU-flower
or Campanula order, and its glorious blue colour
makes it a general favourite through three seasons
of the year. It is an annual plant; that is, in one
year it grows from seed, produces its crop of flowers,
ripens its seed and then dies. We have in East Gipps-
land another form. Lobelia gibbosa, which is as
equally beautiful as our garden one. It is a fine
blue, and the flowers themselves are much larger.
The habit of the plant is an erect one, the stems
averaging from nine inches to a foot in height. A
clump or border of this plant would make an orna-
ment in any garden.
The trigger plant, Stylidium graminifolium, is a
near relation of the bell-flowers. This plant has
received its name from the trigger-like form of the
IH
Rilph, photo.\ .1. J. Rflph, photo.]
Wahlenberjjia gracilis, Cand. Styphelia collina, I.ahill.
(Bluebells.) Leucopogon collinus, K.Brn,
F. L. Reeves, photo.^
Richea Gunnii, J. Hooker.
(Mountain Heath.)
2h
THE HEATHS AND BLUEBELLS.
83
stigma, which, when touched either intentionally or
by an insect, springs into the flower by a quick
trigger-like action. By means of this sensitive action,
the stigma is forced among the anthers, brushing the
pollen from them on to its own surface. This then
allows for fertilisation of the seed. The trigger plant
is usually of a heliotrope colour, occurring in a white
form rarely and only in mountain districts. In these
localities, too, the flowers are very large.
Another plant, and still belonging to another genus,
is Brunonia Australis. This is the beautiful bright
blue “ pincushion ” so common everywhere in Aus-
tralia in late spring or early summer. This flower is
often taken as belonging to the composite order,
whereas it is somewhat removed from that order,
belonging to the Goodeniaceae family. This plant
might readily be used as a border or edging plant;
its bright blue flowers would be a novelty, and it
would have far more colour and character than many
border plants. It, except for its true blue colour, is
not unlike the old Thrift edging that was so common
a few years ago.
84 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
CHAPTER XI.
Orchids.
ORCHIDS are the aristocrats in the plant world.
They are more valued than any other plants,
and command the highest prices possible. Even
in the days when the flower world went almost mad
over tulips, and hundreds of pounds were paid for a
bulb, and when on one occasion one bulb was sold for
four thousand six hundred florins, a new carriage, two
grey horses and harness complete, it is doubtful
whether tulips ever reached the monetary value that
orchids have reached in the present day. Orchids
have been bought for many hundreds of pounds. A
good collection of orchids is worth tens of thousands
of pounds, and the discovery of a new orchid creates
world-wide interest.
But we have none of these orchids in Victoria.
These orchids grow in tropical climates, and are
found growing upon trees. For that reason they are
called epiphytal or epiphytes. There is one epiphytal
orchid in Victoria, Sarcochilus parviflorus, and that
is found growing on the trunks and limbs of the trees
in the shady nooks and jungles of Gippsland, from
Dandenong through to Orbost and New South Wales,
and also in the Cape Otway Ranges of Victoria. It
is a delicately-tinted small white flower, with pink
and yellow spots and markings. The whole plant
may be held in one’s hand, a plant of a dozen leaves
and flowers, but its daintiness is undisputed.
F. L. Reeves, photo. \
Stylidium graminifolium, Swartz.
(Trigger Plant.)
It
A. J. Relph, photo!\
Brunonia australis, Smith.
(Blue Pincushions.)
2l
ORCHIDS.
85
Two other species are recorded from far away in
East Gippsland, and although they belong to a genus
which is usually epiphytal, yet these two species grow
among the hills and the rocks. These are Dendrobium
speeiosum, and Dendrobium striolatum. They are
often called rock-Ulies, especially by visitors to the
Blue Mountains in New South Wales. The former
species is frequently grown in conservatories. It is
hardy, it does not require much water in summer, but
it must be protected from frosts. It bears long
racemes of white flowers; one spike of sixty-three
flowers has been recorded.
The whole of the other species — there are nearly
eighty of them — grow in the ground, and are there-
fore called terrestrial orchids. These are well known,
as it is hard to mistake an orchid for any other plant.
The unusual shape and form, the peculiar structure
in the centre of the flower called the column; the
hood, the lip, the tongue, aU combine to form a flower
which can only be classed as an orchid. The terrestrial
species are usually common, and they do not belong
to the section which is so costly to purchase. The
orchid flowers are usually much sought after by
collectors and by children; by the latter they are
often called such names as “ cows,” “ goats,”
“ hands,” “ parson-in- the-pulpit, ” “ spiders,”
greenhoods,” and so on.
Generally the “ spiders ” are the most popular.
Their name is Caladenia, which was given to them
in reference to the beautiful markings on that portion
of the flower called the lip. Caladenia Patersoni is
the name of the long-petalled spider orchid, the long
86 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
spidery petals often being over three inches in length.
The most common “ spider ” orchid is Caladenia
dilatata. This is the one with the broad lip (label-
lum), some of the petals being coloured and brightly
marked with green.
The “ greenhoods ” belong to the genus Ptero-
stylis; they are usually greenish in colour, and the
upper portion of the flower is shaped like a hood,
covering the rest of the flower. In many cases the
labellum or lip is sensitive; if it is touched, or if an
insect alights upon it, it springs up, and forcing the
insect into the flower, retains it there for a short
time, until the lip drops again. Many orchids possess
this property, and it has been so given to them by
nature, in order that they may be able to produce
their seeds, so that the seeds may be fertile — ^that is,
that they may grow\ It is necessary that the pollen
must be placed on the stigma. The pollen, by means
of a growing tube, sends a drop of fertilizing fluid
down to the young seeds, which gives them the power
of vitality or life. In orchids, the pollen is not in
the form of yellow dust, as it is in sunflowers, lilies
and many other flowers, but it is found in sticky,
almost solid masses. The insect being forced into the
flower, almost always receives some of the sticky
pollen masses on its body, and when it flies to another
orchid, carrying the pollen with it, the stigma of the
flow’er coming into contact with the pollen on the
insect becomes smeared with it and thus fertilization
takes place.
One orchid has a very much enlarged lip, which is
also sensitive. This is a pretty purplish-brown orchid.
A. J. Relph, photo.~\
Caladenia dilatata, K.Brn.
(Spider Orchid.)
1.1
.4. /. Rel(ih, ftlioto.^
Calochilus Robertsoni, Benth.
(Brown Beards.)
2.1
ORCHIDS.
87
and is known as the “Cockatoo ” or “ flying duck,”
owing to its remarkable similarity to a wild duck in
flight. The orchid is not common, and is only found
in the cooler and also in the mountainous portions of
the State. It is Caleana major.
Another queer orchid is Calochilus Robertsoni.
This is called the ‘ ‘ old man, ’ ’ from the fact that the
labeUum, which is prune-coloured, is long and very
hairy, protruding from the flower Like a beard.
The ‘ ‘ undertaker, ” or “ flower of sadness, ’ ’ which
grows in the sandy soil, and which is always more
prevalent after a fire has passed through the scrub,
is a peculiarly-formed plant, about 6 or 7 inches high,
with a stem carrying three or four purple hooded
flowers, and having one thick fleshy leaf. This is
called Lyperanthus nigricans, and it receives its com-
mon name from the fact that, when dried or pressed
it turns completely black.
The blue orchids, usually called “wild hyacinths,”
some of which are handsome, and often two feet in
height, belong to the genus Thelymitra. There are
nearly a dozen here, mostly blue-coloured, some also
being pink or yellow. Thelymitra antennifera, a
yellow-coloured one, is very sweetly scented. In this
genus, the labellum formation is not so marked, the
lip almost forming an even petal in the lower portion
of the flower.
The orchids commonly called “ cows ” belong to
the genus Diuris, which means two tails. This is in
reference to the lower sepals being long and narrow,
and somewhat tail-shaped. This genus is limited to
Australia, the most beautiful of all being Diuris
88 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
punctata. This flower has the two tails very long,
and is of a most beautiful heliotrope shade of colour.
It is not very common, and its near relation Diuris
alba, which is equally beautiful, is rare. This has
the long double tails, but is white and sometimes
shaded with very pale heliotrope, and with a few dark
spots inside the flower.
The large blue orchid which is found over the
whole of the State in springtime, is Glossodia major.
This flower is often foimd in a white form in the
mountain districts.
Two other species, mueh less common and worthy
of notice, are Dipodium punetatum and Gastrodia
sesamodes. The former is a leafless plant, with a
stem often eighteen inches high, with many red, white
or pink flowers, spotted inside with brownish purple.
The latter is also a leafless species, with brown stems
fairly tall, and with peculiar um-shaped flowers,
small, and white or brownish white in colour. Many
of our orchids are flgured and described in Dr. Ro-
gers’ charming little book on the orchids of South
Australia.
Only a real orchid enthusiast should attempt to
cultivate these orehids, as, except to an experienced
hand, they are difficult to keep alive for any time.
The chief essentials, however, are to grow them in
their particular natural soil, to grow them in shade or
sunshine, according as they grow naturally, and to
withhold water when the tubers or bulbs are resting
from growth.
NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA. 89
CHAPTER XII.
Iris and Lily.
WHEN we think of aU the wonderful and beauti-
ful forms of these two classes of plants, those
admirable plants that adorn our gardens — the
Japanese and German Iris, the Christmas and Tiger
Lilies — we are somewhat surprised that, in the flora
of Australia, there are no species in these genera so
large and so striking as those with which we are
familiar. And this is aU the more vmusual, seeing
that these plants grow in a wide climatic range,
including both tropical and temperate, and in Aus-
tralia we have these climates extensively.
In Victoria, most of the plants of these families
are small and diffuse, only a few growing to any size.
Our largest and most striking liliaceous plant is the
grass-tree or Xanthorrhoea. In the younger stages
the foliage extends directly from the soil, like a long
vigorous tuft of harsh grass, assuming a butt or stem
with age. Sometimes the stem branches into two or
more growths. The small white flowers are produced
along a very tall spike, sometimes six or more feet in
height, and the bushes, or “ trees,” always flower
vigorously after a bush-fire. An interesting occur-
rence may be noticed in connection with the flowering
of the grass-tree spike. It is almost invariable that
the flowers on the north side of the spike are the first
to open. Thus it is possible, from observing the
flowering spikes, to determine the points of the
90 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
compass. The plant is pervaded with a very strong
resin, and in bee country this is very objectionable,
for the flowers have a strong sweet fragrance which,
of course, attracts the bees. From the plants they
gather the resin in large quantities, and plaster it
over the insides of the hives, flUing in aU the crevices
and cracks. With it they also frequently seal on the
lid. All up the holes in the queen-excluding board,
fasten the frames to the sides of the hive, and almost
close up the entrance. It would seem as if the bees
were using the resin for the purpose of preventing
the intrusion of enemies; but there are places where
the resin is cemented, that stiU cause some enquiry.
There is no apparent reason for this, and the pro-
polis, as the resin is called, causes much trouble to
the bee-keepers. Grass-trees usually grow on the
poorest of sandy soils, and they are very difficult to
transplant from the bush. The seedlings may be
grown in sand, and afterwards planted out. The
grass-tree is a plant of uncommon appearance when
grown as a lawn specimen, which position suits its
best. The grass trees growing on the lawns in the
Melbourne Botanic Gardens, are growing in good stiff
soil, and are thriving well.
Without doubt, the most beautiful, and also the
most rare of our lilies is a Mallee and Grampian plant
called Calectasia cyanea, or the “blue tinsel Hly ” or
“ satin flower.” The plant is a low sparse one, and
the flower is fairly small, about an inch in diameter;
but its striking colour, which is blue lake with a
metallic satiny sheen, makes it a plant much sought
after. The three sepals which look like petals, and
II . /’. Dkkins, photo. I
Xanthorrhoea australis, R.Br.
I Southern Grass Tree.)
3j
ki’lpit, (>holo.\ II _ /J. Dickins, photo. \
Thysanotus tuberosiis, R.Hrn. Stypandra ^lauca, K.Brii.
(Bulbous Fringe Lily.) (Nodding Blue Lily.)
lEIS AND LILY.
91
the three petals are all similar in form and colour,
and they possess the peculiar “ everlasting” form so
well known in those flowers so called.
The small white flower called “Early Nancy ” is
one of the lilies, and is known as Anguillaria dioiea.
The fringe lilies Thysanotus, with their purple-
fringed flowers, and with a scent like that of choco-
late, are widely spread in the springtime.
A flne blue lily, with bright green grassy foliage,
is Stypandra glauca, or the “ nodding blue Hly.”
With its grass-like tuft of stems and foliage, it gives
a nice, informal appearance to any garden plot or
border. It will grow in any garden soil, and the old
stems should be thinned out to make room for the
new growths.
Eustrephus Brownii, the “ wombat berry,” is a
climbing liliaceous plant, with small pink flowers. In
the autumn it is covered with abundant clusters of
bright orange berries. It is prevalent in the Snowy
River district. Unless it is grown in a cool locality,
and in good, old, rich soil, the Eustrephus does not
berry well under cultivation; but in any situation it
makes good growth and foliage, the leaves always
being nicely glossy and bright.
There are no true irises in Victoria, but there are
several representatives of the Irideae family. The
white ‘ ‘ butterfly iris, ’ ’ Diplarrhena Moraea, growing
in the south, and east of the State, is a delicately
beautiful flower, with a faint sweet scent. The purple
and heliotrope “ flag ” irises belong to the genus
Patersonia; and these flower well in late winter and
spring. The irises transplant readily from the wild,
92 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
and provided a small ball of earth be taken with the
plant, they will grow right away in the garden.
In a climate and country which produces plants
of the iris and lily family so insignificant in fiowers
when compared with other portions of the globe, it
is rather surprising to fiud pahns growing naturally.
Palms are quite close relations of the lilies.
There is only one native pabn of Victoria,
Livistona Australis; that is found in two closely-
connected localities near Orbost in East Gippsland.
The main group of pahns is on the Cabbage-tree
Creek — the creek so called after the common name of
the pahns — and the other, which only consists of a
few small palms, is on the banks of the Brodribb River.
The two locahties are only a few miles apart. The
main group on the Cabbage-tree Creek is a cluster of
fine old and tall pahns, the tallest one being considered
to be about ninety feet in height. There are only
about fifty pahns in the locahty, and it is fortunate
they have been protected by law, and that the land
is permanently reserved. The pahns were discovered
here by the late Baron von Mueller, and it is due to
him that the pahn tract has been reserved. This
palm is well known in gardens and palm collections,
and to grow it best, it needs to be placed in a position
protected from winds, as its foliage is fairly tender,
and if much blown about by the wind, the fohage
becomes very ragged and untidy. This palm enjoys
a good stiff soil, and may be well fed with old manure.
It is not a great success as a house pot plant —
although hardy — on account of the spines which
are placed along each side of the leaf stem. The
A. J. Rf/p/i. p/iolo.]
Diplarrhena Moraea, Labill.
(Butterfly Iris.)
3i
J. RelpJi, photo !\
Patersonia glauca, R.Brn.
(Short Purple Flag.)
4i
IRIS AND LILY.
93
warmer the climate or the situation, the quicker this
palm grows.
BotanicaUy, flowering plants are first classed under
two great divisions. The classification is arranged
according to the first leaves which come from the
seeds. These seed-leaves are called cotyledons. The
first class of plants has two seed-leaves, and are called
dicotyledons, which means two seed-leaves ; the second
have only one seed-leaf and are called monocotyle-
dons. The irises, lilies and palms, as well as orchids,
rushes, sedges, and grasses, belong to the latter class.
94 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
CHAPTER XIII.
Grasses and Ferns.
NO discussion on the native plants of any country
would he complete without some remarks on
the grasses and ferns. Taking the grasses
first, there are very few species that can strictly be
called ornamental. Most of our grasses are useful,
and indeed, highly nutritious for stock feed.
Some grasses have other qualities of note. There
is the scented grass, Tetrarrhena juncea, which is
very fragrant, and which in climbing with its slight
wiry stems among the trees or shrubs of Gippsland,
often reaches the height of fifteen or twenty feet or
more.
Of the reed grasses of our watercourses, Arundo
Phragmites, which is a near relation of the Danubian
or Southern European common bamboo, Arundo
donax, and which ornaments the banks of our streams
with its brown feathery plumes at Easter time, is a
tall decorative species. Poa dives, a tall mountainous
and forest grass, of strong and vigorous habit, is also
worthy of note. A pretty small-headed grass is
Erianthus fulvus, “ Brown top,” with its tall slender
stems, crowned with a golden-brown tuft. It is an
ornament for any garden, and is also nutritious for
stock.
A dainty form, restricted here mainly to the Mallee,
but also found in the Werribee Gorge, is Stipa
elegantissima, the “ Feather Spear Grass.” The
/•'. /,. A’,'. phutoA
Livistona australis, Martins.
(Cabbage Tree Palm.)
3h
/. -•/. Sears, photo.^
A Fern-Tree Gully at Warburton.
4h
GRASSES AND FERNS.
95
specific name shows what Labillardiere, the eminent
botanist, thought of it when he named it in 1804.
Its delicate faintly-hlac plumes, seeming to float in
the air, viewed at a short distance would suggest the
presence of a fairy cloud. In the Mallee this grass
flourishes best when growing amongst the prickly
and low branching shrubs. Here, where its young
succulent growths are free from stock interference,
it reaches up amongst the growths, and is exceedingly
graceful and dainty. That this grass grows most
successfully under garden conditions, I proved at
Shepparton some years ago, growing it intermingled
with the previously-mentioned species.
Then there are the ferns! If the rest of our
vegetation were all insignificant and unimportant,
we would have enough glory, enough beauty, and
enough of variation, to talk about and to be proud
of in our ferns. What can compare with an Austra-
lian fern gully — its majesty and gracefulness, its
coolness and joy, its refreshment and charm? There
can be nothing like it. The gully shaded by the gums,
the hazels (Pomaderris), the wattles, and many other
trees and shrubs, is further darkened by the cool
dark stems of the tree-ferns, and by their long spread-
ing green fronds — the tree-ferns growing along the
watercourse, and even far up the hillside slopes —
hundreds of them, all graceful, all beautiful. We see
the stream cool and crystal, babbling down the moss-
covered stones, which supply coolness and music to
the glen.
And then we see the smaller ferns in the under-
growth and among the rocks. There are the water ferns
96 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
GRASSES AND FERNS.
97
t Lomaria, with their dark green fronds, and the young .
I fronds all beautifully rose-red; the coral and star
ferns, Gleichenia, with the feathery graceful foliage;
the harsh rasp ferns, Doodia, whose dark green foUage
is their redemption; the bracken ferns, Pteris, with
their fronds pale green and refreshing; the creeping
ferns. Polypodium, often festooning the stems of the
tree-ferns and sometimes trailing on the limbs of the
trees; and the king fern, Todea barbara. This latter
species often attains great size. Many individual
crowns spring from the one butt or stem, which as-
sumes with age a many-headed broad form. And then,
as if to form a veil hiding all harshness and roughness
of the fern trunks, we see the delicate moss-like ferns,
Hymenophyllum and Trichomanes, ferns which love
and never leave the darkness and the cool moist air.
And, lastly, there is the maiden-hair fern,
Adiantum .lEthiopicum. Its daintiness is unsur-
passable, growing among the rocks or fringing the
creek banks with its long delicate fronds, hanging
weeping into the very water, as if seeking a sip of
nature’s nectar, it is one of the most beautiful of all
ferns. Adiantum formosum, the black-stem fern of
the cool forests and jungles of East Gippsland, is a
beautiful, robust species of maiden-hair fern, with
fronds often three feet across, on a stem two or three
feet in height.
The common tree-fern, Dicksonia Antarctica, is
one that follows the creek gullies and slopes. The hill
tree-fern, Alsophilia Australis, is more hardy, and
more suitable for garden culture. It is a success in
good garden soils, especially where clay is absent.
G
98 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
This has prickly stems and much broader foliage.
Cyathea medullaris, is a taU species with a narrow
trunk, almost jet black. This is not common.
The number of species of various ferns that may
be found in one limited area, is almost incredible. On
one occasion, at Bell Bird Creek, far away in East
Gippsland, 1 collected forty-four species in an area
of little more than one acre. This, of course, is rather
in excess of what may usually be found, but one may
easily collect twenty species in a fern locality.
t. L. AU’i it;s, ph,it'>.\
Clematis aristata, K. Brn.
(Greater Clematis, i
IK
A. J. Relph, photo.^
Seeds of the Clematis aristata, R. Brn.
(Greater Clematis)
2k
NATIVE FLOWEKS OF VICTORIA. 99
CHAPTER XIV.
A Number of Desirable Plants.
IN a country like this, where Nature is so prodigal
of her gifts, it could hardly he expected, in the
limits of a popular work, that the whole of our
native plants could be described. The difficulty has not
so much been to select suitable plants for description,
but to choose the most suitable. Even so, I am aware
that many have been left out, many that perhaps
should have been noticed. A few more desirable
ones will be mentioned here, without giving any
botanical sequence or relationship.
In the Labiateae or “ lip ” family, Prostanthera
Sieberi and P. rotundifolia, with fine heliotrope-
coloured flowers, which almost veil the shrub; our
“ Christmas bush,” Prostanthera lasiantha, with its
large delicate white flowers and mottled throat ;
Prostanthera nivea, the pure white species; and
Prostanthera eoecinea, a scarlet form from the MaUee,
are all notable and desirable shrubs, which own the
common name of ” mint ” bushes. If only someone
would bring down from Kosciusko, from the Buffalo,
or from Mount EUery, that uncommon shrub, Pro-
stanthera Walter! — named after Charles Walter, a
much revered and lovable old Melbourne botanist, and
a collector for many years for Baron von ^lueller —
and bring it into cultivation, we should have a unique
garden plant. With large green flowers, blotched
100 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
with bright purple irregular markings, and with
good green foliage, it is a very uncommon plant.
Plectranthus parviflorus, which is placed in the
same family, may not be known to many by name,
but it is frequently grown as a basket plant. Its large,
somewhat hairy leaves, purplish on the back, with a
pendant habit, make it a decorative plant, and when
the large racemes of small delicate pale heliotrope
flowers come, its daintiness appeals to everybody.
This grows naturally in East Gippsland.
Our violets are small, but of good form, and very
floriferous. The common one is Viola hederacea, with
small white-and-purple flowers, while Viola betonici-
folia is a large heliotrope species, favouring swampy
localities.
It is unusual to find a shrub or a small tree
included in the violet family or Violaceae. Yet we
have one, and it is well named the tree violet. The
flowers of Hymenanthera Banksii are unlike a violet,
being very small and yellowish. But they are indeed
most fragrant, and are usually crowded in sweet
scented masses along the stems of the shrub. It is an
unusual plant, and being of dense growth, it should
make a good hedge plant. It is usually to be found in
moist places and along river or creek banks.
The ‘ ‘ wedding bush ” is a free-flowering heath -like
bush, covered with masses of white starry flowers,
and growing in sandy soils along the south and east
coast. This plant is somewhat impatient of garden
conditions, requiring an almost sandy soil, deep, and
with a warm sunny situation. It is botanically known
as Ricinocarpus pinifolius.
ll.
. Relph, phoio.'\ Clematis aristata, K. Hrn. var. IJennisae.
A. J. Retph. photo.]
Prostanthera rotundifolia, R. Brn.
(Round-leaved Mint Bush.)
2i.
SOME CLIMBING PLANTS.
101
The scarlet passion-flower, Passiflora einnabarina,
of East Gippsland, is a quick-growing climber with
rather smaller flowers than is usual among passion-
flowers. It is rather prolific when in bloom, and the
scarlet flowers are distinctive.
Another good and quick-growing chmber is Tecoma
Australis, which has shining dark green leaves and
vigorous clusters of whitish flowers.
We are familiar with the Clematis or “ old man’s
beard,” with white starry flowers, and with fluffy
white feathery seed-heads — aU quick-growing hand-
some climbers. Clematis microphyllus is the coastal
form with small creamy flowers. Clematis aristata
is the larger white species with also larger leaves.
This is more a lover of the bush or mountain gullies.
A variety of this species, named Dennisae, has a
brownish red zone in the centre of the flower, which
distinguishes it from aU others.
Other climbing plants there are, which are not so
well known. A number of these are fairly prevalent
in East Gippsland, which portion of the State owns
a flora more approaching that of New South Wales
and Queensland. These plants, as well as many other
beautiful ones, grow mainly on low banks and
margins of the rivers, extending in to the flat land
on each side of the banks. The growth was so luxuri-
ant and dense that these areas received the appro-
priate name of jungles, and before civilisation and
settlers discovered that these jungles claimed the best
land, the vegetation was wildly luxuriant. Trees of
all species, many unknown to other parts of the State,
were crowded in dense masses, and festooning these.
102 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
with thick rope-like stems, were many climbers, with
an undergrowth of ferns and shade-loving plants.
Clematis, Tecoma, Passiflora, Kennedya — plants pre-
viously referred to — clambered aU over the place,
and associated with them were such climbers as Vitis
hypoglauca, a true vine, with lobed leaves, evergreen,
bright and shining, and with small bitter fruit, and
Celastrus australis, another shining foliaged climber,
with insignificant flowers, but with large clusters of
elegant and massive orange-coloured berries. The
vegetation along the river front was always luxuriant,
for these and other climbers rambled aU over the
trees, festooning them down to the water’s edge.
Here one would often hear the mimicry of the lyre-
bird, the clear call of the beU birds, and the sharp
crack of the coach- whip bird’s call.
Other eastern climbing plants are worthy of
remark. Rubus MoUucanus is one of the forms of
the raspberry. The fruit is insignificant, and the
flowers are not very noticeable, but the foliage at aU
times is very decorative. The leaves are large, the
backs being covered with a thick hairy vestiture,
sometimes greyish, but more often a pale rusty brown,
and on the young foliage a pinky -grey.
Rubus parvifolius is the small leaved blackberry-
like plant, with pink flowers and red raspberry-like
fruits, that trails among the logs and scrub in the
moister parts of the State.
Contrary to the usual habit of plants of the black-
berry section of the rose family, Rubus rosaefolius
is not a climbing plant. It sends a number of weak
growths from underground runners and suckers, the
SOME CLIMBING PLANTS.
103
foliage being somewhat like the leaves of the rose,
the flowers being single and white, about an inch
across. The flowers are succeeded hy fruits which
are as large and highly coloured as a big ripe straw-
berry. There is scarcely any substance in the fruit,
and the flavour is not at all pronounced.
Two plants, Bauera rubioides and Bauera sessili-
flora are becoming known; the former has pink
flowers and sometimes a white form is found, while
the latter has masses of magenta flowers. Both
favour moist locations, and the latter is at its best
when growing at the margin of a mountain stream.
Lythrum salicaria is a very striking plant to grow
along water margins, pond edges, or stream sides. It
is a herbaceous perennial, sending hard-wooded stems
each year from the root crown from four to six feet
in height. The stems are crowned with a flne big
tuft of purple flowers, which stand out well from the
small foliage. The foliage, before dropping off in
the autumn, turns a flne autumnal red colour. It is
common throughout Australia in wet places, and is
also found in the other Continents.
A number of the hazels or Pomaderris, particularly
Pomaderris lanigera, Pomaderris elliptica, and Poma-
derris ligustrina, make handsome shrubs with yellow
flowers.
Our buttercup, which is Ranunculus lappaceus, is
a charming plant to grow, especially if it be planted
near a water tap.
Sarcopetalum Harveyanum is a climbing plant,
common only in the Snowy River district, with large,
clearly veined, ivy-like leaves, rambling profusely
104 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
among the stronger stemmed growths. Both the
shape of the leaf and its veirungs go to form a dis-
tinctive and ornamental plant.
Among trees, the “oaks” are distinctive and
decorative, the best being Casuarina quadivalis, the
“she-oak.”
The native pines, CaUitris, are handsome trees
with cypress-like foliage, dark green and cool-looking.
Their timber, too, is of good iise for building, in that
it resists the ravages of white ants, CaUitris cupres-
siformis, the Murray Pine is the best known.
The “bottle-tree” or Currajong, Brachychiton
populneum, a native of the eastern parts, is a fine
shapely tree, and one suitable for street planting.
Its foliage is shining, pendant and decorative, and its
round trunk and fine habit of growth, aU contribute
to its beauty. This is one of the lace or net-bark
trees, which were made use of by the aborigines for
their bags and nets. It has thick, soft, fleshy roots,
which were dug up and much reUshed by the natives
as food and drink.
Our elderberry tree, which grows in the east, is
Sambucus xanthocarpa, the latter name being given
in reference to the yeUow fruits which hang in
clusters like the ordinary elderberry. It is an orna-
mental tree and very like the black-fruited species
mentioned, which is a native of Europe.
The ‘ ‘ Mountain Ash ’ ’ — not the mountain ash of the
gum tree family, nor the mountain ash of Scotland,
but the one which is so-called and so well known in
our southern districts, is Panax sambucifolius — that
is a Panax with foliage Uke the Sambucus or Elder-
SOME NATIVE TREES.
105
berry. This Panax has fine shining pinnate leaves,
of firm texture, and much paler underneath. In
older specimens it becomes a tree, nicely spreading.
It is decorative either as a specimen plant or as a
hedge, and is very easily transplanted. It is one
of our trees that sucker freely, the suckers growing
readily. In East Gippsland there is a variety with
dainty and fine fern-like foliage.
Two handsome trees, decorative in foliage, flower
and fruit, are Elaeocarpus holopetalus and Elaeo-
carpus reticulatus. They are native to East Gipps-
land. The foliage is' dark and shining, and the
flowers are starry and white, and pale pink in colour.
The latter species is especially good, its many flowers
almost at times hiding the foliage. This species also
carries many fruits, like small olives and blue in
colour. The generic name means olive-fruited.
These trees belong to the same family as the linden
or lime-tree of Southern Europe.
The native beech, Fagus Cunninghami, also has
small, handsome, shining dark-green foliage. It, too,
produces good timber.
Then there is the “Boobyalla,” which is the abori-
ginal name of a handsome shining-leaved tree, grow-
ing in the southern parts of Victoria, particularly
near the sea-coast, and botanicaUy known as Myo-
porum insulare. This handsome tree is hardy and
will respond readily to pruning and cutting. Its
vigorous growth of leaves, glossy and shining, give
great pleasure to all who observe or grow it.
There are ten Victorian species, some of which are
dwarf, others being tall shrubs.
106 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
Closely allied to Myoporum is the genus Eremo-
phila. The name means a lover of the desert, and
was probably given in view of the fact that many of
the species are found growing in the drier areas of
Australia._ Some occur in the southern parts of the
State, and other so-caUed desert species are known
to adapt themselves also to the cooler parts. Out
of the sixty Australian species, ten are found in Vic-
toria. The foliage of a large number is greyish-
green, and in most species it is of a pendant character,
hanging gracefully from the leaf stems. Usually
the flowers are large and prominent, and in appear-
ance somewhat like those of the mint bushes, to which
the Eremophilas are not far related. The corolla
or coloured part of the flower, is usually tubular,
opening finally with five lobes, rarely four, one of
which appears more prominently like a Hp. The
species maeulata (spotted), longifolia (long-leaved),
and Brownii, are the more common of the ten. The
flowers range in colour from white to dull bluish and
red.
An interesting river-bank shrub is Myrsine varia-
bilis, and one closely related to the heaths. Al-
though usually a shrub, it occasionally grows to a
height of twenty or thirty feet. The flowers are very
small and not notable, but the shrub is striking when
the berries are formed. These are small, but they
are borne in immense clusters on every leader and
lateral growth, being very crowded throughout. The
foliage is dark green, small, and shining.
The Pimeleas belong to a family which forms one
of the connecting links between the salt bushes and
SOME NATIVE SHRUBS.
107
the legumes. The genus is commonly known by
the name of “rice flowers.” The bark of all the
twenty-one species is tough, but the bark of the Pime-
lea axiflora is especially so. It is frequently used
for tying up parcels and btmches of flowers, while
in emergencies it has been used for boot laces: so
that in one Victorian district it is known as the boot-
lace bush. The flowers of this species are borne in
crowded clusters in the axils or angles of the leaf
stem, and from that occurrence it takes its generic
name. Most of the Pimeleas have their flowers
crowded in heads like a daisy, some large and some
small. The Victorian species are all white, cream,
or yellow coloured, but some species from West Aus-
tralia are beautifully rose pink in colour. Pimelea
ligustrina is perhaps the most decorative species,
growing almost as a shrub, with flne white flower
heads and bold foliage. Some of the dwarfer species
are common as ground herb-like plants, in almost
every district of the State, and all are sweetly
scented. Pimelea octophylla is a dwarf form with
white flowers and with very downy foliage, while the
species strieta and curviflora are very pretty herba-
ceous low-growing plants.
Capparis Mitchelli, the tree Caper, is not common
in Victoria, occurring only in the north-west: but it
is weU known in the warmer States. The flowers are
large and conspicuous, white, and with long and
many stamens. The fruit is often as large as a
passion fruit, rough on the outside, and quite edible
and palatable. The seedlings and young plants are
usually very spinous, more or less weak stemmed and
108 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
of bush-Hke form. Later, as the plant reaches shrub
or tree form its growths become stronger, and almost
invariably the spines are absent on the flowering
growths.
The mountain pepper, Drimys aromatica, is a
shrub with insignificant flowers, and bright shining
leaves. The berry clusters are very decorative,
being glossy black. A distinctive feature is the
red colouring on the leaf-stems and the veins of the
leaves, particularly in winter. The foliage is
aromatic, and when tasted, is quite hot and pungent.
This wo\ild be a fine plant for shrubberies. The
pepper is foxind in the mountains and the moister and
cooler parts of the State, and extends to Tasmania.
A closely-related plant is the ‘ ‘ Bolwarra, ” or
Eupomatia laurina. This is found only in the moist
glens and in the river jungles in East Gippsland.
This shrub has a semi-climbing habit, assuming
strong growth only with age. It has large dark-
green shining leaves which, in the young stage, are
brightly copper coloured, forming a strong contrast
to the older foliage. The flowers are very similar
to those of the double tuberose and, in fact, if dis-
associated from the foliage, would easily be mistaken
for those, having however only a slight fragrance.
The fruit is very like a small fig, not quite an inch in
length, and quite edible and sweet. This is one of
our most distinctive and decorative of plants, and
well worthy of a place in any shrubbery, or as a lawn
specimen.
The “sassafras,” Atherosperma moschata, still
closely related to the pepper, is found in the cooler
//. /’. Dickiiis, photo.]
Plecihanthus parviflorus, Willd.
3L
A. J. Relph, photo.]
Viola hederacea, Labill.
(Common N'iolet.)
4 1.
MESEMBRIANTHEMUM.
109
glens and gullies of the south and east of the State.
It is a fine tree with nicely serrated dark green foli-
age, the branches hanging down most gracefully. The
white flowers, in spring, are most abundant, and with
the aromatic principle of the tree, make the whole
bush fragrant. An infusion of the hark makes a
bitter tonic, which is highly medicinal.
The sundews or Drosera, are interesting plants.
The fact that they catch flies and other small insects
is wellknown. The soft parts of these insects are
digested by the sundew, to supplement the food taken
in by the roots. Australia is very rich in these
plants, over thirty species being found here alone.
There are ten species native to Victoria : one, Drosera
glanduligera, with scarlet flowers, all the rest hav-
ing white flowers. Drosera Whittakeri is the small
species that flowers so profusely in spring, the flowers
having a sweet fragrance. The climbing sundew,
Drosera Menziesii, is interesting and is frequently
found in scrub with its weak climbing stems two or
three feet in length, crowned with a cluster of white
flowers. The forked sundew, Drosrea binata, is our
most interesting species. It grows in wet and boggy
places, with fairly long leaf stems, the leaves them-
selves not being much broader than the stems, and
branching in pairs, like a two-pronged fork, the forks
often being two inches long. The flower stems are
often a foot in height, carrying a nice cluster of large
white flowers.
The marked variability of the Australian flora
is shown by the fact that here we possess three
species of Mesembrianthemum or “pigs-face. ” This
110 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
genus of plants, which is largely represented in our
gardens, is found more frequently in South Africa.
Of the Victorian species, australe and equilaterale
are the two large reddish flowered kinds which are
found on the seashore as well as in the drier interior.
The thick fleshy foliage of the former is round, while
in the latter it is triangular shaped. The fruits of
these two species were eaten by the aborigines.
Mesemhrianthemum tegens is the small flowered
heliotrope coloured species, which trails along, and
flowers so ahunantly in springtime, and which was so
common in the salty meadows near West Melbourne.
One could go on for some considerable time enum-
erating and describing the native plants, for they are
still numerous and useful, as well as beautiful, but
enough has been said to introduce to our readers the
flora of which we should be justly proud. Interest-
ing plants may be found in any part of Victoria, and
those who wish to become enthusiasts should take a
trip in the spring or early summer to some place
where civilisation has not yet destroyed the flowers,
and they will be well rewarded. Anywhere will do
— the plains of the MaUee, the rugged Grampians, the
mountains of the north-east, the mountains, gullies,
and coastal plains of Gippsland, the banks of the
Murray — ^these wiU aU yield their treasures to those
who search for them.
3k
Rrlph, photo. \ Huuera sessiliflora, !•'
(Showy Baiierfi.)
.1. J . Ri-lf’h, photo.^
Ricinocarpus pinifolius, Desf.
( Wedding-bush. )
■(K
NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA. Ill
CHAPTER XV.
Glossary.
This glossary, or explanation of botanical words
and terms, is purposely made a short one, as
many explanations are made throughout the
whole of the text.
ALBA, ALBUS, ALBUM: White.
BOTANY: The study of plants.
CLASSIFICATION: In Botany, plants are classified or
grouped in sections, according to the possession of simi-
lar characters. The vegetable kingdom is divided into
large classes, these into smaller, and so on.
OEDEK: A large group of plants comprised of a number of
genera, all related, is classed as an Order. The word
“family” is sometimes used here.
GENUS (plural, genera; adjective, generic): A group of
plants, comprised of distinct species, all belonging to
the same group.
SPECIES (adjective, specific): A single kind or an indivi-
dual plant. Thus — a species such as Acacia pycnan-
tha, the Golden Wattle, has for its species or specific
name “pycnantha;” and its genus or generic name is
“Acacia.” It is then placed in the Family or Order
of Myrtles or “Myrtaceae.” Where the specific name
is written or printed, beginning with a capital letter, it
shows that the plant has been named after a person or
place. Thus, Acacia Mitchelli, is named after Major
Mitchell.
FLOKA: The whole of the native or indigenous plants of
any country.
LONGIFLOEA: The use of the word “flora” in combina-
tion with another, shows that the specific name describes
112 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
the flower: thus — longiflora, means a long flower, as
compared with others of the genus, and parviflora,
means small-flowered.
TEIFOLIATE: The termination “foliate,” or a similar one,
shows that the name describes the leaf of the plant:
thus, “trifoliate” means three leaves or leaflets; and
“ longif olia, ” long-leaved. This is a Latin term.
MONOPHTLLA: The termination “phylla, ” or a similar
one, shows that the name, which is a Greek one, des-
cribes the leaf also: thus, “mono ’’phylla means a single
leaf; aphylla, without leaves.
MELANOXYLON: The terminal “oxylon” or “xylon”
means wood; and the melanoxylon means blackwood.
PLANT NAMES: The names of plants are given in Greek
and Latin, because these are the languages of students
of all countries, and thus a botanical name is recog-
nised by a botanist, no matter to what nation he be-
longs. While common names can only be applied to a
specific language; and a plant would require a common
name for each language and dialect of the globe.
The personal name which is usually given after the
scientific name of a plant, is that of the botanist who
published a description of the plant under that name.
The Plant Names Committee of the Field Naturalist’s
Club of Victoria is doing good work in preparing a
standard list of common names for all plants, and
already several very comprehensive lists have been
issued.
NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA. 113
INDEX.
Acacia acinacea, 45.
A. alpina, 46.
A. armata, 45.
A. dealbata, 45.
A. Dallachiana, 46.
A. decurrena, 46.
A. decurrena normalis, 46.
A. diacolor, 46.
A. glauceacena, 47.
A. Howitti, 46.
A. implexa, 41, 45.
A. leproaa, 44.
A. linearia, 46.
A. longifolia, 46.
A. longifolia floribunda, 46.
A. longifolia mucronata, 46.
A. longifolia Sophorae, 42, 46.
A. melanoxylon, 41, 42, 44.
A. Mitchelli, 46.
A. myrtifolia, 45.
A. pycnantha, 42, 4.3.
A. retinodea, 44.
A. aalicina, 45.
A. verticillata, 47.
Actinotua Helianthi, 55.
Adiantum Aethiopicum, 96.
A. formoaum, 96.
Age of aeeda, 15, 43.
Alaophila Australia, 26, 96.
Angophora intermedia, 62.
Anguillaria dioica, 91.
Apple-box, 71.
Arundo donax, 94.
A. Phragmitea, 94.
Aspidiotua Koasii, 62.
Aster argophyllus, 49.
A. Celmisia, 52.
A. exul., 52.
A. myrsinoides, 52.
A. apeciosa, 52.
A. stellulatus, 51.
Asterolasia Muelleri, 29.
Atherosperma nioschata, 107.
Axils, 106.
Baeckea linifolia, 59.
B. plicata, 59.
Bamboo, 94.
Banksia collina, 74.
B. integrifolia, 74.
B. marginata, 74.
B. serrata, 74.
Bauera rubioidea, 102.
B. sessiliflora, 102.
Bedfordia aalicina, 49.
Beech tree, 104.
Biennials, 53.
Billardiera scandens, 32.
Bipinnate acacias, 41, 45.
Bipinnate leaves, 41.
Blackfellow ’s Combs, 78.
Black Flat Scale, 62.
Blackwood, 44.
Blackstem Maidenhair, 96.
Black wattle, 45, 46.
Blanket leaf, 49.
Bluebells, 82.
Blue Gumtree, 70.
Blue Pincushion, 83.
Blue Tinsel Lily, 90.
Bolwarra, 107.
Boobyalla, 104.
Bootlace Bark, 106.
Boronia megastigma, 29.
B. pinnata, 28.
Bottle brushes, 57, 60.
Bottle Tree, 103.
Box Ironbark Tree, 72.
Box Tree, 70.
Brachycome diversifolia, 53.
B. graminea, 53.
B. multifida, 53.
Brachychiton populneum, 103,
Bracken Ferns, 96.
Brachyloma daphnoides, 80.
Bracts, 48, 55.
Brown Beards, 87.
Brown Top, 94.
Brunonia australis, 83.
114 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
Bud Variations, 50.
Bursaria spinosa, 33.
Buttercup, 102.
Butterfly Iris, 91.
Cabbagetree Palm, 92.
Caledenia dilatata, 86.
C Patersoni, 85.
Calectasia cyanea, 90.
Callistemon brachyandrus, 60.
C eoccineus, 60.
C. lanceolatus, 60, 61.
C. linearis, 60.
C'allitris eupressiformis, 103.
Calochilus Kobertsoiii, 87.
{Jalycothrix Sullivani, 17, 61.
Campanula, 82.
Caper, 106.
Capparis Mitchelli, 106.
Captain Cook ’s Tea Plant, 57.
Cassinia, 77.
Casuariua quadrivalvis, 103.
Celastrus australis, 101.
Celmisia longifolia, 52.
Cherry Tree, 77.
Chieranthera linearis, 32.
Christmas Bush, 33, 98.
Clematis aristata, 100.
C. aristata var., Dennisae, 100-
C. microphylla, 100.
Coastal Wattle, 42.
Coast Teatree, 57.
Cockatoo Orchard, 87.
Comb Flower, 75.
Compositae, 48.
Composites, 48.
Conospermum Mitchelli, 77.
Coral Ferns, 96.
(.'orolla, 79.
(.'orrea alba, 30.
C. Lawrenciana, 30.
(,'. speciosa, 30.
Cotyledons, 93.
(,’ow Orchid, 87.
Cranberry, 81.
Creeping Ferns, 96.
Cultivation, 25.
Currajong, 103.
Cuttings, 21.
C'vathea medullaris, 96.
Cypress Pines, 103.
Dahlia, 48.
Daisies, 48, 52.
Darling Pea, 38.
Daviesia latifolia, 37.
Dendrobium speciosum, 85.
D. striolatum, 85.
Dicksonia antarctica, 26, 96.
Dicotyledons, 93.
Digging, 25.
Dillw3'nia ericifolia, 36.
Diplarrhena Moraea, 91.
Dipodium punctatum, 88.
Diuris alba, 88.
D. punctata, 88.
Dodonea, 36.
Dogwood, 77.
Doodia, 96.
Double Heath, 79.
Drimys aromatica, 107.
Drosera binata, 108.
D. glanduligera, 108.
D. Menziesii, 108.
D. Whittakerii, 108.
Early Nancy, 91.
Eidelweiss, 54.
Elaeocarpus holopetalus, 104.
E. reticulatus, 104.
Elderberry, 103.
Emu Berry Bush, 81.
Epacrideae, 81.
Epacris impressa, 80.
E. longiflora, 80.
Epiphytal Orchids, 84.
Epiphytes, 84.
Eremophila Brownii, 105.
E. longifolia, 105.
E. maculata, 105.
Erianthus fulvus, 94.
Ericaceae. 81.
Eroistemon correifolius, 29.
E. Crowei, 29.
E. Mj'oporoides. 17, 29.
E. neriifolium, 29.
E. obovalis, 30.
E. trachyphyllus, 29.
Eucalypts, Eucalytus. 64.
Eucalyptus botryoides, 65.
E. cladocalj’x, 67.
INDEX.
115
E. corynocalyx, 16, 67.
E. globulus, 64,^70.
E. hemiphloia, 70.
E. leucoxylon, 71.
E. leucoxylon rosea,_ 71.
E. macrorrhyncha, 71.
E. maculata, 69.
E. maculata citnodora, 69.
E. melliodora, 66, 70.
E. obliqua, H.
E. odorata, 70, j\-
E. paniculata, 72.
E. piperita, 71.
E. polyanthema, 67.
E. rostrata, 66, 70.
E. sideroxylon, 72.
E. Stuartiana, 71. _
Eugenia Smitbii, 57, 61.
Eupomatia lauriiia, 107.
Eustrephus Brownii, 91.
Everlastings, 49. _
Exocarpos cupressiformis, /
Fagus Cunninghami, 104.
Feather Spear Grass, 94.
Ferns, 95.
Fern Growing, 26.
Fern House, 26.
of Orchuls, “o.
Finger Flower, 32. ,
Flag Iris, 91.
Flannel Flower, 55.
Florets, 48.
Flower of Sadness, 8<._
Flying Duch Orchid, 87.
Fringe Lillies, 91.
Fuschias, 30.
Gastrodia sesamoides, 88.
Germination of hard seeds,
Gleichenia, 96.
Glossodia major, 88.
Golden Goodia, 37.
Golden Spray, 38.
Golden Wattle, 41, 43.
Goodeniaeeae, 83.
Goodenia ovata, 36.
Goodia lotifolia, 17, 37.
Gooseberries, 78.
Grasses. 94.
Grass Trees, 89.
Greenhoods, 86.
Grevillea alpina, 75.
G. aquifolia, 75.
G. ilieifolia, 75.
G. oleoides, 75.
G. rosmarinifolia, 75.
G. Victoriae, 75.
Grey Box Tree, 70.
Growing from cuttings, 21.
Growing from seeds, 22.
Gum Box Tree, 70.
Gum-topped Box Tree, .0.
Gum Trees, 64, 70.
Hairpin Honeysuckle, 74.
Hakea eriantha. 76.
H. pungioniformis, 77.
H. rostrata, 77.
H. saligna, 76.
H. ulicina, 77. _
Hardenbergia monophylla, lo,
.35.
7. Hard Seeds, 15, 22, 43._
Hardiness of Plants, 15,
Hazel, 95, 102.
Heath, 79.
Heathy Parrot Pea. -.6.
Hedge Acacia, 45.
Hedges, 32, 45, 58, 62. 68.
Helichrysum baecharoides, .ll.
H. bracteatum, 49.
H. datum, 50.
H. rosmarinifolium, 51.
Helipterum, 49.
Hill Treefern, 96. _
Honev Plants, 67, 69, <4, M»,
90.
Honeysuckle, 74.
42. Hop Plants. 36.
Hovea longifolia. 37. _
Humea elegans, 11, 53.
Hymenanthera Banksii, 9.*.
Hymenophyllum, 96.
Iris, white, 91.
Trideae, 91.
Indigo. 38.
Indigofera australis, .38-
Tronbark Tree, 71.
Tsopogon ceratophyUum, t >.
I. anemonifolium, 78.
Ixodia achilleoides, 51.
Kangaroo Thorn, 45.
Kanuka, 62.
, . Kennedya prostrata, 35.
* K. rubicunda, 35.
King Fern, 96.
Kunzea parvifolia, 60.
Labiateae, 56, 98.
Labellnm, 86.
Legumes, 34.
Leguminous Plants, 34.
Leontopodium eatipes, 54.
Lemon Scented Gum, 69.
Leptomeria, 78.
Leptospermum laevigatum, 57.
L. lanigerum grandiflorum, 5§
L. myrsinoides, 58.
L. scoparium, 57, 58.
Leucopogon Riehea, 81.
Lhotzkya genetylloides, 61.
Lightwood, 41, 43.
Liliaeeae, 89.
. Lilly Pilly, 62.
Livistona australis, 92.
. Lobelia gibbosa, 82.
Lomaria, 96.
V Lomatia, 75.
Loranthus, 78.
Lyperanthus nigricans, 87.
Lythrum salicaria, 102.
Mahogany Gum, 65.
Maidenhair Fern, 96.
Manures, 20, 23, 24, 29.
Marianthus bignoniaceus, 32.
Melaleuca decussata, 60.
M. gibbosa, 60.
M. hypericifolia, 60.
Mesembrianthemum australe,
109.
M. equilaterale, 109.
M. tegens, 109.
Messmate Tree, 71.
Micromyrtus microphylla, 59.
Mint Bush, 98.
Mimosa, 40.
Mistletoe, 78.
Monocotyledons, 93.
Mountain Ash, 103.
Mountain Pepper, 107.
Murray Pine, 103.
Musk Tree, 49.
Myoporum insulare, 104.
Myrsine variabilis, 105.
Myrtaceae, 56.
Myrtles, 56.
Myrtle-leaved Acacia, 45.
Nodding Blue Lily, 91.’-
Oaks, 103. •
Oil Dots or Glands, 49.
Olearia argophylla, 49.
O myrsinoides, 52.
O. speciosa, 52.
Olive-leaved Grevillea, 75.
Old Man ’s Beard Clematii,
100.
Old Man ’s Beard Orchid, 87.
Orchids, 84.
Orchid Growing, 21, 88.
Oxylobium ellipticum, 38.
Packing Plants, 19.
Palms, 92.
Panax sambucifolius, 103.
Passiflora cinnabarina, 16, 100.
Passion Flower, 16, 100.
Patersonia, 91.
Pepper Tree, 107. •
Peppermint Trees, 71.
Persoonia arborea, 76.
P. Juniperina, 76.
P. linearis, 76.
Phyllodes. 41.
Pig’s Face, 108.
Pimelea axiflora, 106.
P. curviflora, 106.
P. ligustrina, 106.
P. octophylla, 106.
P. stricta, 106.
Pincushion, 83. •
Pine, 103.
Pink Eyes, 31.
Pittosporeae, 31.
Pittosporum phillyraeoides, 17,
31.
P. undulatum, 15, 31.
Plectranthus parviflorus. 99.
Poa dives, 94.
Pod-bearing Plants, 34.
Pollen, 42, 86.
INDEX.
117
Polypodiurn, 96.
Pomaderris elHptica, 102.
P. lanigera, 102.
P. ligustrina, 102.
Postman, 35.
Potting Plants, 20.
Propolis, 90.
Prostanthera eoceinea, 98.
P. nivea, 98.
P. rotundifolia, 98.
P. Sieberi, 98.
P. Walteri, 98.
Proteaeeae, 73.
Pruning Eucalypts. 68.
Pruning Trees and Shrubs, 25
68.
Purple Coral Pea, 35.
Pultenaea rosea, 35.
Pteris, 96.
Pterostylis, 86.
Quandong, 78.
Ranunculus lappaceus, 102.
Rasp Ferns, 96.
Ray Florets, 48.
Reed Grass, 94.
Red Box Tree, 67.
^ Red Gum Tree, 66.
Rose -flowered Ironbark Tree,
71.
Red Ironbark Tree, 72.
Richea Gunnii, 81.
Rieinocarpus pinifolius, 99.
Rock Lillies, 85.
Rosaceae, 101.
Rice Flowers, 106.
Rosemary-leaved Grevillea, 75.
Rosy Bush Pea, 35.
Rubus Mollucanus, 101.
R. parvifolius, 101.
R. rosaefolius, 101.
Rutaceae, 29.
Sambucus xanthocarpa, 103.
Santalum, 78.
Sarcochilus parviflorus, 84.
Sarcopetalum Harvevanum,
102.
Sarsaparilla, 15, 16, 34.
Sassafras, 107.
Satin Flower, 90.
Saw-leaved Honeysuckle, 74.
Scarlet Coral Pea, 35.
Scented Grass, 94.
Schools’ Horticultural Society,
11.
Seed Variations, 49.
Seeds, Delayed Germination,
23, 61.
Seeds, Hard Coated, 15, 22, 42.
Seedlings, 23.
Sensitive Lip, 86.
Sensitive Plant Action, 82, 86.
She-Oak, 103.
Silver Wattle, 41, 45.
Soil Conditions, 24.
Spider Orchids, 83.
Sports, Sporting, 50.
Spotted Gum Tree, 69.
Sprengelia incarnata, 80.
Star Ferns, 96.
Stipa elegantissima, 94.
Stringy Bark Trees, 71.
Stylidium graminifolium, 82.
Stypandra glauca, 91.
Styphelia ascendens, 81.
S. pinifolia, 81.
S. Richea, 81.
S Sonderi, 81.
Sunflower, 48.
Sunshine Wattle, 46.
Sugar Gum Tree, 16, 67.
Sundews, 108.
Swansona galegifolia, 38.
S. Greyana, 38.
Swan River Daisy, 53.
Sweet Bursaria, 33.
Sydney Green Wattle, 46.
Tea Trees, 57.
Tecoma australis, 100.
Telopea oreades, 76.
Terrestrial Orchids, 85.
Tetratheca cilata, 31.
T. ericifolia, 31.
Tetrarrhena juncea, 94.
Thelymitra antennifera, 87.
Thryptomene ciliata, 59.
T. Mitehelliana, 17, 59.
Thysanotus, 91.
Ti-Trees, 57.
118 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA.
Time for Removal of Plants, W ahlenbergia gracilis, 82.
20. Waitzia corymbosa, -’ll.
Todea barbara, 96. Waratah, 76.
Toothbrush Flowers, 75. Wattle and Daub. 40.
Transplanting from Bush, 19. Wattle Day League, 4.3.
Transplanting to Gardens, 20. Wattle Seeds, 40, 42.
Tree Caper, 106.
Tree Ferns, 26, 96.
Tree Violet, 99.
Triehomanes, 96.
Trigger Plant, 82.
Tristauia laurina, 62.
Umbellifereae, 55.
Undertaker Orchid, 87.
Violaceae, 99.
Viola hederacea, 99.
V. betonicifolia, 99.
Violet Family, 99.
Viminaria denudata, 38.
Vitis hypoglauca, 101.
Wattles — Origin of Xame, 40.
Wattling, 40.
Water Ferns, 96.
Wax Flower, 30.
Wedding Bush, 99.
Wild Hyacinths, 87.
Willow Pittosporum, 31.
Willow Wattle, 45.
Wombat Berry, 91.
Xanthorrhoea, 89.
Yellow Box Tree, 66, 70.
Ziera Smithii, 31.
Zinnia, 48.
Keyatooe Priutiaif Co.. 55J 4 I^oaadule Si.. Melbourue.
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