SUNDEWS. 93 - 
renders them for the pastoral occupant obnoxious to his herds and 
flocks, whenever and wherever these plants grow gregariously. 
We here are interested only in one genus of this order or family, 
Drosera itself, which presents us with not less than ten species 
within the boundaries of our territory. One of the most frequent 
of these is the species, of which an illustration is offered, Drosera 
Whitackeri (Fig. XLIV.). It is one of the harbingers of spring, 
when it pushes forth on our meadows its rosette of leaves and its 
large white but soon evanescent flowers. Curiously enough, this 
Drosera, unlike most others of ours, does not cross over to 
Tasmania, and hardly passes into New South Wales, although it is 
equally frequent 
in South Aus- Fie, XLIV. 
tralia. Equally 
common are here 
two caulescent 
species, Drosera 
peltata and Dro- 
sera auriculata. 
They are easily re- 
cognised by their 
almost crescent- 
shaped leaves, 
fixed towards the 
centre, and differ 
from each other 
in this: D. pel- 
tata has the sepals 
closely appressed 
and often hairy, 
and produces oval 
seeds ; contrarily 
D. auriculata has 
the sepals laxly : 
appressed and Fic. XLIV.—(Drosera Whitackeri).—a, sepal; 6, a 
Getic sain dbth petal; c, a stamen; d, styles; e, longitudinal section of 
y 2 ? fruit ; f, longitudinal section of a seed; all except a and 6 
and produces largely magnified, 
