AUSTRALIAN PICTURES. 



the tree has veritably the appearance of a fire. Cycads and palm-lilies are 

 picturesque wherever they are met with. 



The grass-trees {X author r hoed) are peculiar to Australia, and in some 

 places cover myriads of acres. I have seen them in valleys in Western 

 Australia growing so thickly that it was impossible to push a horse through 

 their ranks. A rugged resinous stem five to ten feet high supports a 

 drooping plume of wiry foliage, from which a flowering bulrush springs. The 

 ' black boy,' as the grass-tree is called in the west, is often weird, and is 

 essentially Australian. Useful advice to a settler would be, ' Be chary of 

 buying land where the grass-tree grows,' for, though there are exceptions, the 

 Xanthorrhcea has a weakness for the desert. The warratah, with its single 

 stem of six feet, bearing a crimson blossom resembling a full-blown peony, is one 

 of the most popular of the wild flowers of New South Wales. The boroina, with 

 its powerful perfume, will be admired by the visitor ; the Araucarias have 

 here their home. The heaths are beautiful ; and it may be said of them in 

 their place and season, ' You scarce can see the grass for flowers.' For a long 

 time the wild flowers of the country were neglected, but now in some places 

 shows are exclusively devoted to them. The dictum of Mr. A. A. Wallace 

 is not to be lightly challenged, and it is that 'no country in the world affords 

 a greater variety of lovely flowers than Australia, nor more interesting forms 

 of vegetable life.' 



The grape is providing us with a national industry ; the orange-groves 

 of Sydney, Perth, and other districts are amongst the sights of the place. 





Grass-Trees. 



