MYRTACEiE. 



263 



jparium is called New Zealand Tea, and is the only species 

 introduced from that country; the rest, from New South 

 Wales, seem to be characterized by their leaves, as sericeum,, 

 the silky-leaved ; grandifoliurn, the large-leaved ; puhescens, 

 the hoary, lanigerum, the woolly, myrtifoliurn, the myrtle, 

 porophyllum, the dotted-leaved, etc. etc. L. ambiguum, has 

 pendulous branches, which, in June and July, are loaded with 

 pale yellow flowers, making it particularly ornamental. L. 

 scoparium is perhaps the most useful species to introduce, 

 as it flowers early in the spring and continues long in 

 blossom ; a variety with larger flowers has its petals tinged 

 with rose colour when fully exposed to the sun, though 

 they will be white in the shade ; it is said that in its na- 

 tive country, where there is an almost ever sunny sky, the 

 flow r ers are of a deep rose-colour. 



The soil should be loam and peat, and the shrubs may be 

 propagated by cuttings as well as by seeds. Stenospermum 

 corifolium and Billotia flexuosa and margin ata were for- 

 merly considered as species of Leptospermum ; they have 

 white flowers, and are introduced into the greenhouse. 



