41 



in the axils, or at the ends of short branches, and have 

 very short stalks. The floral tube is well developed, and 

 closely blended with the pistil for some distance, in many 

 cases even to the top of the ovary. This union is so close 

 that tube and ovarian wall appear like one structure. 

 Above there is always a free portion to the tube. From 

 the end of the tube arise five small triangular sepals, and 

 closely above and alternating with them five round, spread- 

 ing, white or pink petals. The stamens arise close above 

 the petals, and are numerous. As the condition of the 

 stamens is largely made use of to separate the closely- 

 allied genera, we must pay some attention to them. They 

 are all free from one another, arranged in a single row, 

 and are shorter than the petals. The filaments are slen- 

 der, and attached by a point to the back of the small 

 oblong anthers. There are usually five carpels, but in one 

 Teatree there are ten. The ovarian portions of these car- 

 pels are arranged in a circle, and where their walls touch 

 they are so blended that there appears only a simple 

 division between the cavities and at least in their lower 

 portions they are intimately united with the floral tube. 

 From the centre above and from a slight depression arises 

 a slender, simple, erect style, terminated by a little head, 

 which is the stigma. At the inner angle of each ovarian 

 cavity there is a little cushion of tissue, upon which are 

 developed numerous minute ovules. Any cushion or place 

 where ovules grow is called the placenta. 



In developing into fruit the condition does npt much 

 change. It only becomes somewhat larger and harder, the 

 sepals in most cases remaining on the top of the rim. 

 The top of the fruit may be flat or convex, sometimes 

 in the same species, and it splits in a radiate manner along 

 the top of each ovary to allow the seeds to escape. These 

 seeds are small and slender, and the genus of Teatrees has 

 been named from this fact. The name is Leptospermum, 

 which means slender-seeded. The Teatrees are not all well 

 marked ; some forms run very much into one another. 

 The Woolly Teatree is the commonest. It has a flat blunt 

 leaves, and the green portions of the flower are more or 

 less covered with delicate hairs. It prefers damp situ- 

 ations. Manuka or Prickly Teatree is also common, but 

 it prefers open places and hillsides. The leaves have a 

 sharp termination, and the fruit is very convex, a large 

 part of it protruding above the tube. There is one thing 

 worth noticing in it, that flowers that bear well-developed 

 stamens often have stunted and barren ovaries. This ten- 



