2 THE LOEANTHACEAE OF AUSTKAUA^ 1., 



The classification adopted is that of Engiei-'s ''Pfianzenfamilieu," which i& 

 closely followed with slight modifications. It is obvious from my investigations 

 that Engler did not himself examine some of the Australian species. The 

 genera affected by my review are Atkinsonia, which is superseded by Gaiaden- 

 dron; the species belonging to the versatile section of Loranthus, which are trans- 

 ferred to Phrygilanthus ; and two species of Viscum, which have been placed in 

 Korthalsella. In the genus Loranthus, I propose to restore 5 old species, and 

 shall offer- as new 13 species and a similar number of varieties. The additions 

 will bring the total number of species to 40, with 20 varieties, an increase of 21 

 species and 17 varieties since the publication of the "Flora Australiensis" in 

 1866. They are distributed among the undermentioned sections as follows: 

 Amy emeu, 25 sp., 12 vars. ; Biplatia,, 1 sp.; Treubella, 4 sp.; Lysiana, 4 sp., 6 

 vars. ; Amylotheca, 1 sp. ; Dendrophthoe, 4 sp., 2 vars.; Benthamina, 1 sp. 



In depicting the various species, two characters impressed me as being 

 valuable aids to classification, namely, the inflorescence and the buds. Both are 

 singularly constant, and form a ready means of discrimination. The venation of 

 the leaves is also valuable for the same purpose, as the species with parallel 

 venation in Loranthus, with one exception, belong to the section Amyema, as also, 

 do nearly all the terete-leaved species, while those with penninerved leaves, with 

 one exception, are absorbed in the closely allied sections. 



1 have also paid some attention to the embryonic cotyledons and their 

 manner of gi'owth, with a view to ascertaining whether certain characters were 

 sufficiently constant for tasonomie purposes. I find that in the various sections 

 of Loranthus there is, in some species, a corresponding similarity in the structure 

 of the embryo and its mode of growth and differential development, Avhich, taken 

 in conjunction with other characters, is to some extent helpful in their separation 

 and classification. 



Other characters discussed are parasitism, adventitious roots, union or at- 

 tachment, mimicry, dispersal and distribution, and agents of dissemination. 



A Brief Botanical History. 



The first purely Australian member of the family Loranthaceae, Loranthus 

 floribundus Labill. (Nuytsia floribimda E. Br.,) was described by Labillardiere 

 (Novae Hollandiae Plantarum, i., 1804, p. 87, fig. 113). Twenty-three years- 

 after, Sieber (Sprengel Cur. Foster, 1827, p. 139) described Loranthus pendidiis, 

 and two years later (in Roemer et Schultz, System Vegetabilium, vii., 163) he 

 described L. celastroides and L. eucalypti folium. 



In 1830 A. P. De Candolle, in his classification of the Loranthaceae (Pro- 

 dromus Syst. Veg., iv., 259) redescribed L. pendulus Sieb. under section Stylosi 

 and published for the first time a description of L. congener Sieber. On page 

 316 lie quotes Labillardiere's description of L. floribundus (Nuytsia floribimda . 

 R. Br.), placing it in section Taguanae DC, along with some Chilian species, and 

 on page 318, under Vix noti numero nempe floris igiioto, refers to Sieber's L. 

 celastroides and L. eucalypti folius. In the same year he gave a description and 

 figure of L. pendulus Sieb. and L. congener Sieb. in his Memoire sur la Famille 

 des Loranthacees. 



Robert Brown (Joum. Geogr. Soc, 1, 1831, 17) removed Loranthus flori- 

 bundus Labill. from the genus Loranthus, mainly on the winged fruits, and pro- 

 posed the genus Nuytsia. In his Botanical works (vol. i., 1832, 308) he refers 

 again to Nuytsia floribmida in "A general view of the botany of the vicinity of 

 Swan River." 



