Chapter VII. 

 THE MYRTLE FAMILY. 



The Myrtles form by far the most conspicuous feature 

 of Tasmanian woodlands. Eucalypts, Bottlebrushes, and 

 Teatrees are the commonest genera, while the pretty little 

 Baeckias and Native Broom assist in adding interest to 

 our heaths. These, with a few more, are the Tasmanian 

 representatives of the family. We call our Beech by the 

 name Myrtle; this is wrong, and should be suppressed 

 Beech is quite as easy, and has the advantage of being 

 correct. 



The- name is given to the family because the European 

 Myrtle is a typical member of it- Like the Roses, we have 

 here many forms of fruit. In Myrtle and some Australian 

 forms it is fleshy, like a berry, but our plants have mostly 

 dry capsules, though Native Broom and our rare Thrypto- 

 mene have little one-seeded nuts. Besides the structure 

 of the flower, there is one common feature in all our 

 forms little glands of oil are formed in the leaves. These 

 can be seen by holding a leaf up to the light, when they 

 appear as pellucid dots, or crushing them in the hand, 

 when the odour of the oil can be readily perceived. This 

 formation of oil dots is not confined here ; we find it also 

 in the Rue family, to which belong Boronia, Native 

 Fuchsia, and Stinkwood, but it is uncommon elsewhere. 

 It is worthy of notice that very often amongst plants 

 when an unusual feature appears, as, for instance, this 

 formation of oil drops, or the possession of some poisonous 

 principle, it is common to the whole group to which the 

 plant belongs, though in varying degree. The leaves of 

 all the members of this large family are of simple outline; 

 that is, they are never broken up into lobes or leaflets. 



This family is well defined by general features, but it 

 differs from the Roses in its flowers. The carpels are 

 blended together, so that the pistil appears as one body, 

 and in the floral tube is united much more consistently to 

 the pistil. This appears a small matter, but it is another 

 step in advance towards a higher type, where the tube 

 completely envelopes the carpels so as to bring the ovary 

 below the flower. 



A Teatree may be taken as a type. It has pretty little 

 flowers, like miniature single roses. They are placed singly 



