SKETCH OF THE VEGETATION OF AUSTRALIA. 
215 
IS, however, inconspicuous or weedy. Of 
Epacridace^ many species exist, but very few 
of much interest, and those chiefly belonging 
to genera well known in other parts of the 
country. Goodeniacea3 are numerous, and 
comprise several fine Le.<chenaidtias. Davi- 
2nera cuneata is a dwarf herbaceous plant, 
with leathery leaves and terminal flowers of a 
bright blue. A great number of species of 
the curious genus Stylidimii are found in the 
colony, nearly all of which are worthy of cul- 
tivation, their flowers varying from pink to 
yellow and many shades of purple. Of the 
equally neat genus of sun-dews {Drosera) 
several species of great interest are found, 
not only on account of their flowers, but from 
the bulbs of some of the sorts being said to 
afford an article of food to the natives, as well 
as to give promise of being valuable for dying 
purposes. One of these, D. erythrorhiza, has 
bluntly- ovate leaves, fringed and in whorls, 
with a terminal bunch of flowers, and bulbs 
of a bright scarlet colour the size of large 
hazel-nuts. One of the most numerous orders 
is Proteacese, whose varying forms are so 
abundant as to stamp the Australian character 
on the whole country. The}'" occur of all 
sizes, from bushes of humble growth to trees 
of tlie height of fifty feet. 
Upwards of sixty species of orchids have 
been detected, many of them very handsome, 
and all interesting from tlie singular sti'uctui'e 
of the flower, and frequently from the diffe- 
rent methods in which the bulbs are formed. 
These plants are also worthy of notice from 
the roots of several species affording a con- 
siderable amount of food, at certain seasons, to 
the aborigines. Many other species of mono- 
cotyledonous plants are to be found, of great 
interest; and among the grasses a common one 
here, as well as nearly all over New Holland, 
is the Kangaroo-grass {Anthistiria australis), 
a plant of invaluable utility in all the grazing 
districts. 
The natives of the Swan River are known 
to use at least sixty different vegetable pro- 
ductions as articles of food, among which are 
about thirty sorts of roots, and at least seven 
kinds of fungus. Among the roots are two yarns 
{Dioscorea), several geraniums, two species 
of bull-rushes {Typha), and several terrestrial 
species of orchids. Among the fungus tribe, 
that called '^native bread" by the colonists 
{" marrin" or " quannert" of the natives) is 
a gigantic truffle, often weighing as much as 
two pounds. This, as well as the others, are 
favourite articles of food with the opossums 
and other marsupial animals, by whom they are 
as greedily devoured as by the natives. The 
common mushroom of England {Agaricus 
campestris), if not truly indigenous, is now 
extensively introduced, and occurs in mnny 
parts of the colony in a wild state. The 
spawn of a large variety of it, said to be far 
superior to our own, has been introduced from 
the colony to this country. Among other 
vegetable articles of diet are four sorts of gum, 
and two of manna, obtained from Acacias or 
Eucalypti ; and the fruits of two species of 
Zaviia. From the flowers of various species 
of J3anksia, the natives take the honey by 
soaking them in water, thus obtaining a 
favourite beverage. 
King George's Sound, a part of western 
Australia, and too nigh Swan River to offer 
many peculiarities in vegetation, is yet worthy 
of note as the originally discovered station of 
the New Holland Pitcher-plant (Cephalutus 
follicularis), where it occurs in marshes, and 
from whence it was introduced to England. 
The flora appears to become gradually poorer 
as the head of the great Australian bight is 
approached, from whence to Spencer Gulf and 
the Gulf of St. Vincent is to be found the 
poorest coast vegetation in New Holland, 
hardly exceeded in poverty by that of the bar- 
ren islands of Dampier's Archipelago, on the 
north-west coast, which places possessing 
some of the plants in common, as Clianthus 
Dampieri and Jasuiinum Imeare, would 
almost indicate an extension of the great 
central desert to the coast in both directions. 
This desert has been traced as far to the north 
as twenty-four degrees on the parallel of one 
hundred and forty east longitude ; but barren 
and stony as it is, it has afforded neaidy a 
hundred new genera and species to the flora 
of New Holland. This sterile country is also 
remarkable for the almost total absence of 
many of the peculiar families of Australian 
plants ; epacrids, stjleworts, papilionaceous 
leguminous plants, and coi'dleafs, are hardly 
to be found, and even proteads are reduced to 
a few species of Grevillea, Hakea, &c. The 
gum trees {Eucalypti) are reduced in number 
of species, but the leafless wattles {Acacice) 
and Cusuarinas and Callitris occur in about 
their usual proportions. From Spencer's 
Gulf, following the coast to the eastward and 
southward, the vegetation gradually becomes 
richer, until it is almost identical with that of 
the east coast which was first described. 
Such is a slight outline of the vegetation of 
this enormous country, of which about 7000 
species are known ; which, in its northern 
parts, is capable of producing all the most 
choice spices and fruits of the east, as has 
been tried and satisfactorilj^ proved at Port 
Essington. Even as low as Sydney on the 
east, and Swan River on the west coast, the 
temperature is high enough to ripen the pine- 
apple ; while the orange and similar fruits 
thrive alongside the common culinary vege- 
tables and farm crops of our northern latitude. 
