164 FLOKA OF TASMANIA. [Bubiacea. 
leaflets on old plants smaller, three to five, sessile, lanceolate, acuminate, coarsely bluntly toothed, midrib some- 
times setose. Umbels on slender, terminal peduncles, many-flowered. Mowers very inconspicuous, green, small. — 
Plate XXXVII. Fig. 1, flower; 2, petal; 3, ovary; 4, young fruit:— all magnified. 
Nat. Ord. XL. CAPRIEOLIACEiE. 
Of the Family Caprifoliacea, including Cornea, there are only two or three Australian representa- 
tives ; these are chiefly species of Polyoma and Sambucus. The allied Family of Loranthacea (including 
the Misletoes) may be mentioned here as possessing about a dozen Australian species of Viscum, and 
thirty to forty of Loranthus ; several of these advance as far south as Bass' Straits, but none have hitherto 
been found in Tasmania, which is somewhat remarkable. 
Gen. I. SAMBUCUS, L. 
Calycis Iimbus parvus, 5-fidus. Corolla rotata, 3-5-fida, lobis obtusis. Stamina 3-5. Ovarium 3-5- 
loculare, loculis 1-ovulatis; ovulis pendulis. Stigmata 3-5. Bacca calycis limbo coronata, pulposa.— 
Fruticest;. herbse; foliis oppositis, impari-pinnatisectis, pinnis dentatis v. varie sectis basi bistipulatis v. 
biglandulosis ; fioribus corymbosis. 
The species of Sambucus are found in many parts of the world, both tropical and temperate. Only two are 
Australian, and both are confined to the south-east quarter of the Continent, one advancing into North Tasmania. It 
is probable that the berries may afford as good a wine as that of their congener, the Elder-berry; they have been 
used for puddings.— Ca lyx-tube adnate with the ovary ; limb free, five-toothed or lobed. Petals five, united into a 
inonopetalous corolla, with imbricate aestivation. Stamens five. Ovary 3-5-locular. (Name from sambuca, a 
\ which was made from the wood of the genus.) 
(DC. Prodr. iv. 322); suffruticosa, glabra, foliis pinnatisectis, 
pmnis sessilibus petiolulatisve 2-5-jugis supremis liberis coadunatisve oblongo-lanceolatis acuminatis basi 
ineequalibus squalibusve grosse dentatis, stipulis foliaceis late ovatis serratis, corymbo pedunculate com- 
posite, radiis subumbellatis. (Gunn, 19.) 
Hab. Dense, shaded woods, ravines, and alluvial flats in the northern parts of the Colony, Gunn.— 
Distrib. New South Wales and Victoria. 
A branching, glabrous, herbaceous undershrub, 3-5 feet high, with perennial roots and annual shoots. Leaves 
a span and more long, pinnatisect, the pinnules 2-5 inches long, oblong-ovate or lanceolate, acuminate, sessile or 
petiolulate, oblique or cordate or acute or blunt or very unequal at the base, coarselv, sharply toothed, the upper- 
most free or united at their bases. Stipules foliaceous, broad, coarsely serrate. Corymbs terminal, much branched, 
branches somewhat umbellate. Flowers very numerous, white ; petals three to five, often unequal. Berries oblong, 
compressed, white, usually two- or three-celled, and two- or three-seeded. 
Nat. Ord. XLI. RUBIACE^E. 
The paucity of genera in this enormous and universally distributed Natural Order is one of the most 
marked peculiarities m the Australian Flora; for with the exception of Anthosperma, with which Operc*. 
W may be associated, and some Stellate, all included in Asperula and Galium, there are not more than 
fifty known sp- ■ es f the Order in Australia. Those that are known are almost all tropical, and many of 
them common weeds in other countries. 
