86 BOTANY. 



earlier age. The order is small, and, except C. equisetifolia^ 

 which spreads from Polynesia to Asia and Africa, is con- 

 lined to Australia. 



That ancient and keenly-interesting order Froteacece is 

 very poorly represented in Tasmania. We possess but 24 

 species, and out of these 11 are endemic. Of the large 

 genus Grevillea, of which Australia can boast some 173 

 foiins, Tasmania can only lay claim to one, G. australis, and, 

 in TIakta, to 7 out of 115 ; Conospermtim, 1 out of 36; Per- 

 sonia, 2 of 70;, Banksia, 2 of 50. Many large genera are 

 quite unrepresented. On the other hand, of the ancient 

 genus Orites, whose ancestors may be still traced in the Cre- 

 taceus period, Tasmania absorbs as her exclusive possession 

 4 out of the 6 existing in the present day. Also, the mono 

 typic genera, BeUendena, Agastachys, and Cenarrhenes, are 

 endemic. The Legummosce, and Comfositce. here, as else- 

 where, form a preponderance of wild flora. Among the 

 former, the Acacias constitute a graceful and beautiful por- 

 tion of the shrubland so noivel to the European visitor, and 

 none of them possess this grace- and beauty more than our 

 endemic prickly mimosa, the drooping A. riceana. There 

 is nothing about the Corrvpositce that calls for exceptional 

 notice,' except the feature common to the Southern Hemi- 

 sphere, the numerous forms of everlastings. The asters 

 are fairly numerous, but are mostly shrubs {OUarias). The 

 wild daisies {Brachy comes) are mostly blue or mauve, and 

 the Senecios occasionally are arborescent. AhrotaiieJIa 

 forsteriokles, which occurs only on mountain-tops, forms 

 dense pulvinate masses, and has a superficial resemblance to 

 moss. Pferygopappns lawrencii has a somewhat similar 

 habit. Dnnatia nov(je~zeIandi(E, among the Stylidece, and 

 DracophyUuvi minimum amongst the Fpacrideoe, have also 

 the same peculiar appearance. An order of exceptional 

 interest in Tasmanian botany is the EpacridecB. Of the 290 

 Australian forms. West Australia claims about 145 as en- 

 demic; of the remainder, 60 appear in Tasmania, of which 

 30 are recorded as endemic. The genus Epacris, with nomi- 

 nally 11 species, is ill-defined, and requires revision. The 

 beautiful climbing Epacris, Prionotes cerinthokles, with it^ 

 long crimson bells, is of more than passing interest in that 

 its partially-bilocular anthers connect this order with the 

 more northern Ericacece. The genus Richea, with simple 

 leaves with linear venation and broad sheathing bases, is, 

 except one species, R. gunnii, found sparely in the highlands 

 in Victoria, exclusively Tasmanian. It, with the allied 

 genera, Dracophyllum, Andersonia, and Sprengelia, form a 

 decidedly primitive type of foliage for so highly-organised 



