FLORAL BEAUTIES. 61 



some of the trees being seen perfectly decorti- 

 cated and appearing in a smooth new bark, 

 whilst others have the outer bark not yet quite 

 thrown off, but hanging in long strips from 

 the trunk. These peculiarities, in combination 

 with others, convey to us different ideas from 

 those formed from -the vegetation of other coun- 

 tries. 



Among the beauties of the kingdom of Flora, 

 which are lavished so profusely in this colony, 

 the different species of the Banksia*' genus (or 

 honeysuckle, as all the species are indiscri- 

 minately termed by the colonists) would arrest 

 the attention of the stranger, by its peculiar 

 growth as well as remarkable flowers ; the s^e- 

 cies, Banksia ericifolia was most profusely in bloom, 

 its erect tufts of orange-coloured flowers impart- 

 ing to it a lively appearance. That curious and 

 interesting tree the Xanthorrhcea, — yellow gum 

 or grass tree of the colonists, — would attract ob- 

 servation from its peculiar growth, the trunk 

 being surmounted by long grassy foliage, from 

 the centre of which arises a long scape termi- 

 nated by a cylindrical spike, either crowded 

 with its small white flowers of sickly odour, or 



* The dried cones of the Bayiksia are used by the abori- 

 gines for retaining fire, as they will keep ignited for a con- 

 siderable length of time. 



