k"!? 1 Topp, Wild-fiowers of Souih-lVesfern Anstyalia. 



41 



I 



shai"]) points ot its leaves. The Western species is almost 

 identical with that found in New South Wales — ^A". pyrijorntis. 



The most striking and novel Hibbertia was Hibbertia steUaris, 

 a slender, much-branched shrub, which well deserves its name. 

 It is three or more feet high, with linear leaves and verj' 

 numt'roiis. rather small flowers on slender stalks of all shades of 

 orange and brown. It will be seen that it differs widely in habit 

 and coloration from our Victorian Hibbertias, three of which — 

 //. dcnsifiora. H. stricta, and H. aciciilaris — are found in the 

 south-west. H. slellaris is not as widely distributed as other 

 Hibbertias, I)ut where it is found is very gregarious. 

 Tetratheca is well represented in species, there being eleven 

 endemic in Western Australia and only three elsewhere 

 ("Second Census'-). It was rather sparsely represented in in- 

 dividuals in the localities I visited. T. viminea bears hand- 

 some flowers, larger than those of our species, T. ciliata and 

 T. ericijotia. I have already mentioned the beautiful Platy- 

 theca, belonging to the same family, and which I met with in 

 several localities. 



The taller scrub consists of Melaleucas, Beaufortias, Astarteas, 

 Hypocalymnas, Grevilleas, Dryandras, Iso})ogons, Petrophilas, 

 Adenanthus, various shrubby Leguminosa-, and a bushy 

 Hibbertia. The Melaleucas (Swamp Tea-trees) and Beau- 

 fortias (the latter genus endemic in Western Australia) resemble 

 one another in habit, foliage, and inflorescence of the bottle- 

 brush or spherical shape. M. pungens is a tall shrub with a 

 creamy-white spike of flowers. M. thymoidcs has short spikes 

 of bright yellow flowers. Hypocalymna is a beautiful endemic 

 genus. H. angnstijolium, locally called "Native Heather," is a 

 slender shrub three or four feet high, with rather distant linear 

 leaves and a tiny cluster of pink or white flowers in each axil. 

 H. robiistum is a stronger-growing shrub, and the axillary flowers 

 are a deep pink. Petrophila is a genus mainly confined to Western 

 Australia. P. linearis (locally called the " Flannel-flower "), is a 

 beautiful low shrub bearing abundant flowers in what appears to 

 lie a head, the perianth, covered with delicate silky hairs, giving 

 it a velvety, not a flannel-like, surface, with white or pale pink 

 coloration. Adejianthus is a south-west Australian genus. The 

 two species which I found (.4 . harhigeriis and ^i . obovata) have 

 single dark red flowers in the axils of the leaves. I collected 

 only one (irevillea— a straggling shrub with nmch-dissected leaves 

 and magnificent racemes of ])ink and cream-coloured flowers — C. 

 pinnadsecta. Dryandra is another exclusively Western genus, 

 with the flowers enclosed in an involucra, as in the South African 

 genus Protea. I noticed two species — D. nivea and D. C'U7ieata. 

 The base of the perianth appears to contain much honey, and 

 1 found a good-sized beetle feasting in one flower, 



