128 FLORA OF TASMANIA. {Myrtacea. 
lobes. Petals minute, orbicular, sessile. Stamens five to ten, with short, incurved filaments, and pendulous, didy- 
mous anthers, with a gland at the back. Ovary one-celled, with two to four erect, collateral, basal ovules, a short 
style, and capitate stigma. Fruit not seen in the Tasmanian species ; in the Australian, a one-seeded, obconic cap- 
sule. (Origin of name unknown to me.) 
1. Thryptomene micrantha (Hook. fil. in Kew Journ. Bot. 1853, v. 299. t. viii.) ; glaberrima, 
foliis lineari-obovatis obtusis grosse punctatis, floribus subternis in pedunculo brevissimo sessilibus, petalis 
lobis calycinis minoribus, staminibus 5. [Gunn, 2042.) 
Hab. Schouten Island, in Bass' Straits, on banks of sand and oyster-shells, Gunn.—{YL April.) 
This differs from the described species of Thryptomene in having only five stamens.— A small, twiggy bush, 
with slender branchlets, covered with little opposite leaves, and bearing minute, axillary, white flowers. Branchlets 
obscurely four-angled, covered with pale bark. Leaves rather crowded, suberect or patent, ±-\ inch long, thick 
and coriaceous, very shortly petioled, linear-obovate, blunt, covered with large dots. Peduncles very short, bearing 
one to three sessile flowers. Calyx 1 line long, obconic, ten-ribbed, with two minute deciduous bracts at the base ; 
lobes five, orbicular. Petals smaller than the calyx-lobes, of the same form, white, persistent. Stamens five, with 
short, subulate, incurved filaments, and didymous anthers with a thickened connective ; cells bursting transversely. 
Style short. Ovary elongate, with one small cell towards the top, containing two very minute collateral ovules, 
attached to a small placenta near the base of the cell. 
Gen. III. MELALEUCA, L. 
Flores sessiles, capitati v. spicati. Cabjcis tubus hemisphsericus ; limbus 5-fidus. Petala 5, fauce 
calycis inserta. Stamina plurima ; filamenta elongata, basi in phalanges 5 petalis oppositas coalita. Ova- 
rium 3-loculare, loculis multiovulatis. Capsula calycis tubo basi cum ramo connato inclusa, apice trifariam 
dehiscens. — Folia alterna v. opposita, exstipulata. 
A very large Australian genus, having a very few representatives in other countries, as M. Cajuputi (which 
yields the Cajeput oil), in the Malayan Archipelago. About 130 Australian species are known.— Flowers generally 
sessile, and often immersed in the substance of the branch, and visible within it, on a transverse section, at a very 
early age. Calyx-twbe hemispherical ; limb five-lobed. Petals five. Stamens united into five bundles opposite the 
petals, free above. Fruit connate with the branch, and hence persistent for many years, three-celled, with many 
small, angular seeds bursting above. (Name from /xeAas, black, and Xcvkos, white; in allusion to the contrast of 
the black trunk and white foliage of one of the first described species.) 
1. Melaleuca squamea (Lab. Nov. Holl. ii. 28, t. 158) j ramulis villosis, foliis alternis v. undique 
insertis patulis ovato-lanceolatis lineari-lanceolatisve pungentibus dorso 3-5-nerviis, capitulis terininalibus 
globosis basi villosis, plialangibus 5-9-andris, unguibus brevissimis. — Br. in Hort. Kew. iv. 412 ; Bot. 
Reg. t. 477 ; Be Cartel Prodr. iii. 213. {Gunn, 682, 807.) 
Hab. Very common in peaty soil in many parts of the Colony, ascending to 4500 feet.— (Fl. Dec- 
Feb.) (*.*.) 
Distrib. South-eastern Australia. (Cultivated in England.) 
A common and very variable plant ; Mr. Gunn considers that there are possibly two species confounded under 
it, an alpine and lowland one, but I find no difference whatever between these, and he indicates none. Dr. Mueller 
sends some very interesting specimens from Victoria, showing, on the same specimen, broad-ovate, acuminate leaves, 
and narrow, linear-lanceolate ones ; sometimes the whole of the branches, young shoots, leaves and all, are villous. 
—A very handsome shrub, 2-4 feet high. Branchlets villous. Leaves numerous, uniform in size, rigid, curved, 
patent, pungent, A~i inch long, generally three-nerved, very variable in breadth. Flowers pale purple or white, 
forming terminal heads as large as a marble, which are very villous at the base. 
