PAEEAMATTA DISTEICT. 3 



being small shrubs and herbs ; and although the species are nearly 

 fifty in number, only one of them has any scent ! In the months 

 of September and October, the species of Pultencea, Dillwynia, 

 Podolobium, and Plafylobium, enliven the banks of the creeks by 

 the brilliance of their flowers ; but their showy appearance is too 

 transient in its character to produce anything more than a tem- 

 porary effect 011 the landscape. This is not the case with the 

 important family of the Myrtacece, which, though not containing 

 quite so many species as that of the Leguminosse, gives a tone 

 and character to the bush on all sides ; and at certain seasons of 

 the year, not merely the banks of the creeks, but the sombre forest 

 itself is ornamented by myrtaceous blossoms. The gayest of the 

 Myrtaceae are the different species of Callistemon ; but the genera 

 Eugenia, Backlwusia, Myrtus, Leptospermum, Bceclcia, Kunzea, and 

 Melaleuca, present many beauties to the admirers of nature. 

 There is one species of Melaleuca (better known by the name of 

 tea-tree) which attains a height of thirty feet and upwards ; and 

 the wood, although generally despised as almost useless, seems 

 adapted for little boxes and fancy articles, as it is of a purplish 

 colour and prettily marked. Amongst the larger trees, two 

 species of Angopliora, and one of Syncarpia, might be mentioned 

 as affording timber for rough buildings and firewood, but the 

 Eucalyptus far surpasses them in importance. Of this genus, 

 there are upwards of twenty well-defined species, which, under 

 the various names of iron bark, stringy bark, mahogany, woolly - 

 but, bloodwood, spotted gum, blackbut, blue gum, and so on, afford 

 the principal material for fencing, flooring boards, scantling, and 

 slabs. Some of the species, such as iron bark, (E. resinifera), 

 mahogany (JE. robusta), and blue gum (IE. rostrata), are exceed- 

 ingly durable, but others soon perish when much exposed to the 

 influence of the weather. The classification of the species has 

 long been a matter of difficulty with botanists, and doubt is en- 

 tertained as to the expediency of working by the operculum. 

 According to the plan hitherto adopted, they have been classified 

 by the comparative length of the operculum, but this system is 

 open to the serious objection of separating species which are 

 nearly allied to each other. For instance, iron barks, which closely 

 resemble each other in their general characteristics, are placed, 

 some in the first division, and some in the second, simply because 



