304 



Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [10 May, 191T. 



witli short, silky hairlets, hence, 

 both the vernacular name 

 "Woolly Tea Tree," and the 

 specific " lanigerum " signifying 

 woolly. 



The leaves are from ovate 

 oblong to elliptical or narrow 

 oblong, very variable in size and 

 shape, normally not above h inch 

 long. In some varieties the 

 leaves are all very much smaller, 

 but in some luxuriant specimens 

 they are J inch long, or even 

 longer, more or less hoary-silky, 

 or hairy on the underside, or on 

 both sides; but rarely totally 

 hairless. The leaves when broad 

 and thin show one, three, or five 

 nerves. More frequently^ how- 

 ever, they are thick leathery, and 

 the nerves scarcely visible. 



The flowers are solitary on 

 short leafy branchlets or some- 

 times on the branches, stalkless, 

 and without intervening leaves, 

 white and often rather large. 

 This variety of tea tree flowers 

 in October, November, January, 

 and February, according to 

 locality. The wood is hard and 

 heavy, and was used by the 

 aborigines for making sjjear 

 handles. The Woolly Tea Tree 

 is found in all parts of Victoria, 

 particularly in Gippsland, moun- 

 tain districts, and the neighbour- 

 hood of Melbourne. 



The Tantoon (Leptospermum 



flavescens). 

 Usually a tall shrub, attaining 

 a height of 8 to 15 feet, with a 

 stem diameter of 5 to 8 inches. 

 The wood is hard, and close 

 grained. Its leaves are from 

 narrow oblong to narrow lance- 

 shaped, broadly oblong, or even 

 broader at the end than at the 

 base, blunt ended or scarcely 

 pointed, f inch, long in the largest 

 forms, but usually under ^ inch, 

 and sometimes all very small. 

 The leaves are generally smooth, 

 rigid, flat, and nerveless, or one 



Fig. 64. 



