^ 



i 



III. MAGNOLIACEiE. 40 



1. DBIMYS, Forst. 



. (Tasmaniiia, R. B)\) 



Sepals 2 or 3, membranous, united in tlic bud in a globular calyx, irrcg-u- 

 lariy split or separating -when open. Petals usually few. niamcuts tliick, 

 tlie anther-cells parallel or divergent. Cai'pels various in number, mostly 

 solitary in the Australian species, containing several ovules. Berries inde- 

 Inscent. — Glabrous and aromatic trees or slmibs. Leaves marked uitli pel- 

 lucid dots. Peduncles (in the Australian species 1 -flowered) arising from the 

 axils of deciduous scales at the base of the new shoots, but as these shoots 

 are rarely developed till the fruit has ripened, the flowers appear to he in ter- 

 Mnal umbels with a central bud. Flowers of a greenish-yellow or white, or 

 in some species (not Australian) pink. 



Besides the two Austrahaa species, there are one in New Zealand, one or more in Acw Ca- 

 ledonia, one iu Borneo, and one in South America. 



heaves tapering into a short petiole. Berries small, globular . • . 1. D. aroma fJc^, 

 -Leaves narrowed below, Lut obtuse or 2^auriculate at the very base. 



Bcn-ies ovoid, about i in. long 2, D. dijyelala. 



1. D. aromatica, F, Muelh PL FicLi.20, A bushy shrub or small tree, 

 Rarely attaining tlie height of 30 ft., and very dwarf in alpine stations. Loaves 

 from elliptic-oblong and scarcely 1 in. long 'in alpine forms, to oblong-hmceo- 

 h^te^ and fully 3 in. long in luxuriant specimens, obtuse or acute, always 

 tapering at the base into a short petiole. Flowers ])olygainous, apparently 

 i» terminal umbels, on pedicels rarely exceeding |- in., the scaly bracts very 

 small. Sepals usually 2, 1| to 2 lines long. Petals 2 to 8, nearly twice as 

 long. Carpels solitary, or rarely 2 or 3. Stigma linear, fcnninal at tirst, 

 t^ut soon becoming lateral by the unequal growth of the caipel. Ben'ies 

 globular, about the size of a pea. — Tasmannia aromatica, E. Br. in PC. Syst 

 Veg. i. 445 ; Deless, le. Sel. i. t. 84 ; Bot. Reg, 1845, t. 43; Hook. f. FI. 



Tasm. i. 11. 



Victoria. Humid forest-ran ^--es from Mount Pisnppointment and the Dandenong 

 ^lountams to the Austrahan Alps, asccndini? to at hast 5000 ft., P. Mueller. 



Tasmania. R, Brown ; abundant in many pni-ts of the island, from the level of the 

 sea to the height of 4000 ft. on the mountains, /. B. Hooker. 



2, B. dipetala, K Muell PL Vict i. 31. A tall shrub. Leaves oh- 

 oi^g-lauceolate or rarely oval-obloug, acute or acuminate, usually 3 to 5 lu. 

 *orig, narrowed towards the base, but all (except sometimes a few of the 

 sraaller leaves of lateral shoots) abruptly obtuse or minutely biauriciilate at 

 yie very base, ou an excceaiiigly short broad petiole, or almost sessile. Pe- 

 ^i^incles longer than in Z>. aromatica, and floTvers rather larger. Sepals and 

 Petals usually 2 cnch, Cai^cls often 2 or 3, but one ordy usually enlarges, 

 ^^igma short or linear, more or less unilateral. Berry ovoid, fully i m. long, 

 JiHl luorc succulent than iu 7). aroiiudica.—Tasniamiia innpida, E. 13r. inDU 

 ^yst. Veg, i, 445 ; T. dipetala, E. Er. ms. ex DC. Prod. i. 78 ; T. monbcola, 

 ^- Eich. Sert. Astrolab. 50, t. 19. 



W. S. Wales. Port Jackson, Brown; and in the interior, eitending northward to 

 y^f«"ut Lindsay, W. lUll; and Clarence and Hastings rivers, Beckler ; sonthward to 

 J^awarra, A, Ciuminyham, Macarihur, who t^ives it as tht Fep^er shrub of the colonists. 



VOL. I. " E 



Mo. Bot. Garden, 



inno 



