THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 153 



DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW AUSTRALIAN PLANTS, WITH 



OCCASIONAL OTHER ANNOTATIONS; 



By Baron von Mueller, K.CM G., M. & Ph.D., F.R.S. 



(Continued. ) 



Anthotroche Healiana. 



Beset with a thick lanuginous greyish tomentum ; leaves sessile, 

 cuneate- or elliptic-obovate ; flowers few or several together in 

 axillary clusters, without perceptible pedicels ; calyx cleft to the 

 middle or deeper into semilanceolar lobes, outside densely 

 lanuginous ; corolla hardly exceeding the calyx, its tube longer 

 than the lobes, conspicuously narrowed downward, somewhat 

 cylindric towards the base, the upper portion outside as well as 

 the lobes on both sides laxly tomentose ; filaments barbellate 

 at the base ; anthers whitish ; pistil glabrous ; seeds several, with 

 a reticulated testule. 



At the sources of Swan River, near Cummening ; Mrs. 

 Martha Heal. Leaves reaching a length of nearly 2 inches. 

 Flowers ^ — yi inch long. 



The plant reminds in aspect of some species of Newcastlia, 

 Dicrastylis and Lachnostachys. It differs from A. pannosa, as 

 illustrated by Miers, chiefly in thicker vestiture, generally larger 

 leaves, not so narrow towards the base, more axillary and 

 clustered flowers, in less expanded corolla with narrower tube 

 and shorter lobes, and in more numerous seeds. 

 (To be continued.) 



CORRESPONDENCE. 

 To the Editor of the Victorian Naturalist. 



Dear Sir,— Thinking the following would be not without 

 interest to some of your readers, I send it for insertion in your 

 next issue : — 



A New Egg. — Gould, 464, Petiste/a histrionica (Harlequin 

 Bronzewing) ; locality, Queensland and New South Wales. 

 Egg pure white; length, 1 in. 5 lines; breadth, 12 lines. This 

 description is from well-authenticated eggs in my own collection 

 and from those, also authentic, in the collection of my friend Mr. 

 W. MacGillivray. ERNEST A. DOMBRAIN. 



Victoria- road, Auburn, 15th March, 1890.* 



IRRITABILITY OF LABELLUM OF PTEROSTYLIS. 



To the Editor of the Victorian Naturalist. 



Sir, — I beg to bring under your notice an observation I have 



made on an orchid, Pterostylis mitchelli, var. rufa, the detailed 



description of which may be found in Baron von Mueller's 



excellent work, " Key to the System of Victorian Plants," pp. 



* Delayed through having been overlooked. — En. 



