252 A CONTRIBUTION TO, ETC. 



berries of many species, though small, are edible, and the order 

 does not contain any poisonous or acrid properties. 



Botanists divide the genera into two classes, viz. : (1.) Those 

 that are one-seeded, and (2.) those that are many-seeded. Of 

 the first division we have in the neighbourhood of Parramatta, 

 species of the following genera : (1) Styphelia, (2) Astroloma, 

 (3) Stenanthera, (4) Melichrus y (5) Lissanthe, (6) Leucopogon, 

 (7) Acrotriche, and (8) Trochocarpa : and of the second division 

 (1) JEpacris, and (2) Dracophyllum. Regarding the order as 

 peculiar to this part of the world, we may feel some surprise that 

 so few genera, comparatively speaking, are found near Parra- 

 matta, and that scarcely any, with the exception of Astroloma or 

 " groundberry," Styphelia or "five corner," and, two or three 

 species of Leucopogon afford any esculent fruits. 



The species of Styphelia are S. viridifiora, S. triflora, and 

 & tubiflora. Two other species occur nearer the coast, and one 

 with red flowers on the mountains. Astroloma humifusum is the 

 Ground Berry of the colonists, Stenanthera pinifolia is similar to 

 it, and Melichrus rotatus has inconspicuous flowers with five 

 glands containing a honey-like liquid. Lissanthe is represented 

 in the Parramatta district- by L. strigosa and L. daphnoides. L. 

 sapida occurs in the Mountains, and L. subulata, which some 

 regard as a variety of L. strigosa. Leucopogon has L. lanceolatus, 

 L. juniper inus, L. ericoides, L. mr gains and L. amplexicaulis 

 within a few miles of the town. Here is also Acrotriche divaricata. 

 Trochocarpa laurina is larger than any of the preceding species, 

 and although extending to the Parramatta district, is not so fine 

 a shrub as some of the same kind growing near the coast. Of 

 Epacris, we have E. purpurascens, E. riparia, and E. oltusifolia, 

 and of Dracophyllum, D. secundum. In the neighbourhood of 

 Sydney, at the North Shore, &c., Leucopogon microphyllus is very 

 common, and I have collected L. liflorus on the Mountains. 

 Monotoca albens occurs frequently near the coast, as well as 

 Lysinema pungens, Ponceletia sprengeloides, and Sprengelia incar- 

 nata. Perhaps the most admired species is Epacris grandiflora, 

 of which there is a marked variety, with white flowers, and E. 

 crassifolia and E. microphylla may be frequently seen on the rocks 

 near the sea. Since the days of ROBERT BROWN, so many species 

 hare beea added to the order of the Epacrids, and their structure 



