AN INDIAN NATURALIST'S TRIP TO AUSTRALIA. 225 



blossom. Tho brilliant denso crimson cylindrical spikes of the 

 latter are particularly charming and look very much like the flower 

 heads of the Banksias. There are four orders which are exclusively 

 Australian throughout the whole vegetable kingdom, viz., tho 

 Myoporina?, the Epiacrida?, the Goodeniaceae, and the Candollacea?. 

 Of these the Myoporina), says Baron von Mueller, " aro remarkable 

 for their foliage and delicately-tinted and richly-marked flowers 

 which are to be seen adorning the scrubs and garden shrubberies 

 from year's end to year's end." The natural orders Proteaceas and 

 PittosporeaB are well represented in Australia. The Pittosporum is 

 a genus of very handsome evergreens, either as tender shrubs or 

 small and slender trees. It is one of the rare scented class of plants 

 seen in Australia. The flowers of Pittosporum undulatum, which 

 is known as the Victorian laurel, and of Pittosporum rliomuifolium, 

 yield a perfume which is as rich and delicate as that of the. Jasmine. 

 Their timber is also of high commercial value. Pittosporum pTtilly- 

 rocoides is said to be one of the most graceful members of South 

 Australian flora. Its existence in sterile places, often a solitary 

 entity in a barren plain, affords an illustration of how trees grow in 

 even the most neglected spots and flourish in foliage and flowers. 

 Of the Proteacea), Stenocarpus simiuatus, which is known as the 

 Queensland Tulip tree, is a very handsome tree, often reaching the 

 height of a hundred feet. Its flowers are beautifully scarlet and 

 radiately arranged in thick clusters. I saw this tree in blossom in 

 February in the Sydney Botanical Gardens. Its wood is beautifully 

 grained and very durable, says Mr. Guilfoyle. Greville robusta, a 

 tree introduced into Bombay, is a native of Australia. I have seeu 

 it for years growing here. But it does not appear to be so quick of 

 growth as in its own home. It is called the tl Silky Oak. " It is 

 productive of substantial timber, well worthy of the consideration of 

 our foresters, apart from tho highly perfumed yellow and orange 

 comb- shaped masses of flowers it produces. It often grows as 

 high as a hundred feet. Banhsia, or the Victorian Honeysuckle, 

 and Hahea, are some of the other representatives of tho Proteaceaa. 

 They have numerous species all over the island continent. They 

 inhabit sandy soil, or are utilized as hedge plants. Their quaint 

 flowers, in cylindrical dense spikes and seed vessel, are their 

 sole points of interest. Xylomelum piriform, or the Wooden Pear 

 of Australia, belongs to this order. You are, perhaps, imagining 

 that this Wooden Pear is in any way allied to the soft delicious 



