78 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA. 
The Quandongs of the Mallee, of the genus Santa- 
lum, the Native Cherries, and the wild gooseberries, 
Leptomeria, are closely allied to the Protea family, 
as are the various Mistletoe plants or Loranthus. 
These plants all bear edible fruits, and in the days 
when the IMallee was first settled, and cultivated fruits 
were scarce, Quandong jam was quite a common 
household preserve. The mistletoes are responsible 
for the death of very many trees, being parasitic 
plants; and, in addition to attacking native trees, 
the birds which eat the fruits, drop the seeds pro- 
miscuously, and the plants will become troublesome 
to cultivated trees as well. The mistletoes are plants 
which should not be encouraged in gardens. 
The genus Isopogon, which belong to the Proteaceae 
order, with its two species ceratophyllum and ane- 
monifolium, is an uncommon type. The plants 
assume a tufted or cushion-like form, spreading in 
low growths over the ground. The small round, 
yellow flowers are low set in the foliage which 
is very stiff and prickly. It is of unusual form, being 
smaU, hard and very much lobed, branching, or 
dissected. The plants are often called “blackfellow’s 
combs,” in allusion to the shape and texture of the 
leaves. 
