1921] WILSON, NOTES FROM AUSTRALASIA. No. I 163 



tree confined to a limited area near the sea in the southwest and only 

 rather recently recognized. The Tuart (E. gomphocephala D. CO grows 

 only on the coastal limestone and a number of others are more or less 

 confined to special soils. A very good account of the Eucalypts of West- 

 ern Australia is given by Lane-Poole in his "Statement prepared for the 

 British Empire Forestry Conference" (1920). 



Of the lesser trees of Western Australia the Peppermint {Agonis flexu- 

 osa Lindl.) grows to the largest size and in one district forms pure under- 

 growth in prime Tuart forest. The Peppermint has a dark, fibrous and 

 fissured bark and slender willow-like branches with axillary white flowers. 

 Another species {A. juniperina Schauer) furnishes valuable timber but 

 is a smaller and less handsome tree. The Casuarinas, of which there 

 are a number of species, are common trees of no great size found on the 

 sand-phains and in the Eucalyptus-forests. In the swamps and along 

 the sides of streams several species of Melaleuca grow and since they 

 have a white thin bark which peels off readily are known as Paper-bark 

 trees. Most striking are the Banksias with their terminal erect, cone- 

 like inflorescence. The most common species are BanJcsia grandis Willd. 

 and B, liUoralis R. Br., both with yellow flowers, but more valuable is B. 

 rcrticillafa R. Br. with exquisitely figured wood. These Banksias ought 

 to be cultivated in Cahfornia. Common on the Wheat-belt is Acacia 

 acuminata Bcnth., a small tree with a neat rounded or oval crown of 

 slender branches and wood of exactly the odour of Raspberry Jam. 



The Blackboys {X author rlioe a Preissii Endl. and X, reflexa) and the 

 Grass-tree {Kingia australis R. Br.) are extraordinarily abundant on the 

 coastal plains and in the open forests from Perth southward. The first- 

 named have a solitary erect rod-like inflorescence sometimes six feet, 

 whereas in the Grass-tree the inflorescence is a small, drumstick-like 

 affair arranged several together in the form of a necklet. Very widely 

 spread in Western Australia is the Sandal-wood {Santalum cygnorum 

 Miq.). This is a small, rather ugly, parasitic tree with fragrant wood 

 in great demand in China to burn as incense. There are many other 

 trees worthy of note but I conclude with the mention of another parasite, 

 Nuyfsia florihunda R. Br., the so-cafled Christmas-tree of Western Aus- 

 tralia. This remarkable tree belongs to the Loranthaceae and possesses 

 a whole catalogue of pecularities. It grows from 25 to 40 feet tall with a 

 trunk from 5 to 8 feet in girth and an irregular crown of green branches 

 and branchlets. The wood is very brittle and when not in flower it is 

 an ugly tree. It is common on the sand-plains round Perth and elsewhere 

 and toward the end of November and in December every branch termi- 

 nates in a large panicle of rich orange-colored flowers. When I left Perth 

 a week ago many of these trees were in full flower and wonderfully beauti- 

 ful. 



