AUSTRALIAN TREES AND SHRUBS. 113 



attached to the house. When by accident this was burnt 

 down, the tree, which was not seriously injured, was planted 

 out, at the beginning of the last century, on the open lawn, 

 where it has remained ever since. Notwithstanding its great 

 age it regularly produces its pale white flowers and snail-like 

 fruits. Specimens of these are now before us. This interest- 

 ing tree is about 20ft. high with a girth of stem of about 

 4ft. Gin. A small plant of the same species is met with at 

 Broadstone. Hakea eucalyptoides was formerly grown at 

 Abbotsbury. This when in flower is a very striking plant 

 on account of its abundant scarlet balls of flowers, which emit 

 long styles that deck the branchlets. It does exceedingly 

 well in the Mediterranean region, where it is called " Sea 

 Urchin " by English visitors. It is referred to as " the glory 

 of the gardens of the Riviera." At the well-known La 

 Mortola gardens, established by the late Sir Thomas Hanbury, 

 this species flourishes as a shrub 10ft. high with balls of flowers 

 2^in. in diameter. Another notable member of the Pro- 

 teacea is the Waratah (Telopea speciosissima) , with very 

 red showy flowers. It sometimes appears in gardens as 

 Embothrium. There are plants of this which occasionally 

 flower at Abbotsbury and Broadstone. The Waratah is 

 also known as the native tulip tree, and like, the kangaroo 

 and acacia, is symbolic of the country. The aborigines were 

 accustomed to suck its large tubular flowers for the honey 

 they contained. The common bottle-brush tree Callistemon 

 speciosus is hardy at Abbotsbury, and very attractive with 

 its fine masses of red flowers. 



LESSER KNOWN TREES AND SHRUBS. 



As there are more than sixty Australian plants that are 

 more or less hardy along the South Coast, it is impossible to 

 describe them in detail. It will be sufficient if I pass them 

 briefly in review. The musk tree (Olearia argyrophylla) 



