THE WARMER TEMPERATE ZONE, 127 



nunculus), and a flower which, in appearance, is almost the 

 same as a Daisy (but belonging to a different branch of the 

 Composite family), called Yittadinia. The species of the 

 flowers indeed may not be the same as ours, but there 

 would be sufficient resemblance to raise a thought of home 

 when met with in that distant land. 



The character of vegetation in the neighbouring island of 

 Tasmania corresponds in great measure with that of Aus- 

 tralia. It is a beautiful country; its features varied by 

 valleys and mountains, by forests and heath-land. Here 

 again we find the Gum-tree (Eucalyptus) : one species 

 which grows here is the most elegant of the family, called 

 the Weeping Gum-tree ; it is " large and lofty, with dense 

 glossy foliage, and finely grown, having something the cha- 

 racter of a Portugal Laurel grown into a forest-tree." The 

 Proteas abound here also, the so-called Honeysuckle-trees 

 forming a marked feature in the landscape. 



There is a very beautiful and very common tree too, 

 which goes by the name of the Wattle-tree, the wood being 

 very much used in wattling cattle; it is an Acacia, one 

 of the Mimosa tribe, and has therefore the peculiar cha- 

 racter which distinguishes all that tribe, of a Leguminous 

 seed-vessel, without having papilionaceous blossoms. These 



