LXVr. ERICACEAE- 13 i) 



number as the corolla-lobes, inserted witbia the corolla but free from it. 

 Anthers 2-ceIle(l, opening at the top by 3 separate pores or oblong slits or 

 rarely by 2 slits extending their whole length. Hypogynous disk very small 

 or none. Ovary having usually as many cells as lobes of the corolla, rarely 

 (in genera not Australian) apparently twice as many or reduced to 3 or 2, 

 with 1 or several ovules in each cell, the placentas attached to the axis- 

 Fruit either capsular or succulent and indehiscent. Seeds very small, with 

 a fleshy albumen, the embryo straiglit, often small.— Shrubs, sometimes very 

 low creeping and almost herbaceous, more frequently erect and bushy or 

 growing up into small trees, very rarely, in species not Australian, true herl)s. 

 Leaves entire or toothed, undivided, usually alternate, penninerved or 3-uerved, 

 Plo\m-s either axillary and solitary, or in short clusters or heads, or forming 

 terminal racemes corymbs clusters or heads. 



This large Order is widely spread over" the whole world, especially in the temperate aud 

 colder regions, but not uncommon also in hilly districts within the tropics. In Australia, 

 Tiowever, it is very much restricted both in area and in numbers, being oiily known m Tas- 

 mania aud in the mouutaius of Victoria aud N£W England. The three Australiau genera 

 Wong to three of the great suborders (or, according to some, distinct Orders) mto which 

 ^ncacecB have been divided. One, mUsteinia, is endemic ; another, Ternettya, extends 

 to New Zealand and South America ; the third, Gatdthcrla, has a wide range over the hilly 

 regious of Asia and America. 



Trebe I. Vaccinie^,— Oy^zry inferior. Fruit succulent, indehlscevt. 

 Anther-cells opening to the base in longitudinal shts ...... 1- WrrrsxEiNiA. 



Tribe II. Arbxiteae.^Oy^ry superior. Fruit succulent, indehiscent. 

 Anthers with 2 awus to each cell, rarely none. Berry smooth ... 2. Pernettya. 



TaiBE III. Androiaedese.— 0^-^;y superior. Fruit a capsule, opening locuUcidalhj . 

 t^aljx more or less enlarged after floweriu?:, often succulent aud berry- 



hke enclosing the fruit . 3. Gaultheru. 



Tribe 1. Vacciniej^. Ovary inferior. Fruit succulent, indehiscent. 



1. WITTSTEIlSriA, F. Muell. 



Calyx-tube adnate ; lobes 5. Corolla carapaiuilate ; lobes 5, short, 

 spreading, valvate or slightly induplicate in the bud. Stamens mserted at 

 he base of the corolla ; anthers versatHe, the cells opening to the base m 

 longitudinal slits. Ovary inferior, 2- or S-celled, with several ovules m each 

 f- Fruit pulpy, crowned by the persistent calyx-lobes, the dissepiments 

 obliterated. Seeds several, slightly flattened. Embryo minute, near the base 

 ?f the albumen.— Prostrate or creeping shrub. Leaves coarsely toothed. 

 ^Wers axillary, solitary. 



anJ^f S^^^s consists of a single species, endemic in Australia and exceptional ia the tribe 

 r,t^o?t so in the whole Order in the dehiscence of the anthers, the embryo la also much 

 ^^aUer than in the majority of the genera. 



1. W. vacc!niacea, F. Muell Fragm. ii. 136, iii. 166; PL Fid Alt. 



^' Stems prostrate or creepini?, with ascending branches of 6 m. to 1 tt 

 ^su% siigi^^iy pubescent. Leaves scattered or approximate in clusters ot i 

 l\'l^ obovate-oblong, obtuse, coarsely toothed, contracted into a short petiole, 

 ^^^aer thick, penniveined, glabrous, pale or glaucous underneath, mostly 



