92 THE VtCTORIAN NATURALISt. [Vol. JCiVt. 



Wattle heads mottled with flowering patches, not so thickly or 

 so rich in colour as the blooms of the Silver and Green Wattles, 

 nevertheless very sesthetic in tone. In shape Black Wattles are 

 rotund ; others with unrestricted freedom recline among the 

 lichen-covered rocks, the whole place being redolent with strong 

 wattle perfume, which is agreeably modified by an admixture of 

 the fragrance given off by the Snowy Mint-bush, Prostanthera 

 nivea, and other sweet-scented shrubs around. 



Cross over to Tasmania and see the wattles along the banks 

 of th^ Tamar, where they may be seen competing in colour with 

 the flowering Peppermint Gums. In November and December 

 the pretty red-tiled villas of Trevallyn are embowered in wattles, 

 full of bloom, giving forth their delightful fragrance. 



Black Wattles are felled not only for their bark for tanners' 

 use, but for their wood, which is highly prized for use in the 

 bakers' ovens. Away in Western Victoria is a range of mountains 

 with serrated and curiously tilted peaks — the Grampians, the 

 "Sierra Nevadas" of Victoria — whose well-watered slopes, once the 

 home of countless wattles, have been cleared, and are now occu- 

 pied by fruitful fields of apples. 



We have now reached midsummer, when the Silver Wattles of 

 " Yellow-haired September " appear in seed, their suspended 

 pods hanging in nut-brown clusters or purple patches ; myriads 

 of the tiny jet-black seeds are already shed, some carried afar by 

 birds, thousands of the exploded pods have fallen and float like 

 fairy canoes upon the shrunken pools, too low for stream or 

 current to bear them off. But other wattles are still in flower, 

 though in lighter shades of splendour, for, according to the 

 species, the flowers range from almost white to deepest chrome, 

 and it may be accepted as a general rule that those which 

 flower in winter and spring possess the rich yellow shades, 

 while those which bloom in the summer and autumn wear the 

 paler tints. 



Another fine wattle which has been introduced into Victoria 

 from New South Wales, where it is fairly common, and like many 

 other wattles rejoices in several popular names, such as Welling- 

 ton, Cedar, Hickory, &c., is the New Year Wattle, Acacia elata. 

 Its foliage is like that of the well-known introduced Pepper-tree, 

 Schinus niolle, and it is the first wattle to flower at or after the 

 New Year, hence the choice of an appropriate vernacular would 

 seem to rest between the names " Pepper-tree Wattle " or 

 " New Year Wattle" — which ? It is certainly not a " Cedar" or 

 a "Hickory," or even a " Wellingtonia." Its botanical title, 

 elata, is euphonious and easily remembered. It is an exceedingly 

 ornamental tree, and fine specimens may be seen in many 

 private gardens in the different suburbs and in the Botanic 

 Gardens. An especially fine pair guards the lodge opposite 



