LETTER XXVIII. 



THE PITTOSPORUM TRIBE THE MILKWORT TRIBE. 



Plate XXVIII. 



It is a common statement that New Holland pro- 

 duces no eatable fruits, for that even the few wild 

 berries which the traveller meets with are more dry, 

 tasteless and insipid than those of any other country. 

 The Pears,* say the grumbling colonists, are made of 

 wood, Cherriest have the stones on the outside of the 

 flesh. Grapes;]: are nauseous, and grow on Bindweed, the 

 Currant-bushes§ prickly, and the Gooseberries!! with- 

 out thorns, while the Honeysuckle^ has no odour, and 

 the Oak** no foliagfe. Althoug-h these are mere idle 

 tales, arising from the names of European plants being 

 misapplied to New Holland species of a totally dif- 

 ferent nature, yet it is true that the whole of that vast 

 continent is, as far as has yet been seen, destitute of 

 any fruit-bearing plant that deserves cultivation. 



The nearest ally of the Grape and the Currant for 

 instance, is a beautiful twining evergreen plant with 

 small dark gTcen leaves, and large berries of the deepest 



* Xylomclum pyrlforme. f Exocarpus cupressiformis. 



\ Polygonum adpressum. ^ Leucopogon. || Gaultheria. 



H Banksia. ** Casuarina. 



