130 POPULAR GEOGRAPHY OF PLANTS. 



feather of the ferns below/'* To this beautiful picture 

 must be added the tree-like Grasses, which choke up the 

 spaces between the trees, and we may form some notion of 

 a Tasmanian forest. An additional beauty is given to them 

 in spring-time by the many kinds of Orchis with which the 

 ground is carpeted. 



The tracts of heath-land in this country (if we may so 

 call them) must be a very beautiful sight, gay with the 

 Epacris, both crimson and white ; which so very much re- 

 sembles the Heath both in appearance and structure, that 

 Professor Lindley thinks "it really is of no practical im- 

 portance whether the Epacris tribe is considered a distinct 

 assemblage, or a mere section of the Heath tribe;" some 

 kinds even agree with the Heath in the stamens being si- 

 tuated below the ovary, while in others they arise from the 

 corolla; but there is some difference in the formation of 

 the anthers. It is remarkable that only one or two of the 

 Heath tribe are found in the countries occupied by the 

 Epacris, which is indigenous in Tasmania and Australia, in 

 the Polynesian Islands and the Indian Archipelago ; in all 

 of which it grows in profusion. 



The scenery on the river Huron is very rich : its banks 

 * From ' My Home iu Tasmania,' by Mrs. Meredith. 



