APPLIED ART. 



(c) The Tasmanian Waratah. 



(Telopea truncata, R.Br.) 

 Figfure V. 



HISTORICAL. 



This elegant shrub was first made known to science by Lahillonhere in liis 

 work '• Plants of Xew Holland," i)ublished in 1804 under the name of Emboth- 

 rium truucatitm. f)ut was afterwards placed by Robert Brown under a new generic 

 name. Telopea. in the Trans. Linn. Soc, X., 198, in i8og. 



The name Embothriiim was established by R. and G. Foster in 1776, being 

 applied to a South American plant somewhat resembling our Waratah, but 

 differing principally from Telopea in the absence of floral bracts. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE PLANT. 



In point ol size this Waratah ranks next to the Victorian, being larger than 

 that of Xew South Wales, and smaller than the Victorian. The maximum height 

 is given by Rodway as usually 5 to 10 feet. It very closely resembles the 

 Victorian species in inflorescence and foliage; the flowers, however, being silky- 

 ferruginous as distinct from the glabrous character of the other species. The 

 bracts of the two (Victorian and Tasmanian) vary very littk in character, and 

 the number of individual flowers in the head is about the same in each ca.^e. The 

 fruits are the smallest of the three species, measuring 2 inches long. 



HABITAT. 



This Telopea, as inferred from its local name, is endemic to Tasmania, being 

 " very common, principally on mountains." 



REMARKS. 



The Australian's admiration for the ^^'aratah is not confined to tlie Xew 

 South Wales representative of the faniih', as shown by the following excerpt 

 from Geoffrey Smith's book "A Xaturalist in Tasmania," pp. 54 and 55. published 

 in 1909: — 



" The Waratah {Telopea trunc<.<ia) is a small tree or shrub, sometimes 

 attaining 20 feet in height, and bearing the most beautiful scarlet flowers 

 which are so much prized by the colonists for decoration that the tree is 



