MESEMBRIANTHEMUM. 
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glens and gullies of the south and east of the State. 
It is a fine tree with nicely serrated dark green foli- 
age, the branches hanging down most gracefully. The 
white flowers, in spring, are most abundant, and with 
the aromatic principle of the tree, make the whole 
bush fragrant. An infusion of the hark makes a 
bitter tonic, which is highly medicinal. 
The sundews or Drosera, are interesting plants. 
The fact that they catch flies and other small insects 
is wellknown. The soft parts of these insects are 
digested by the sundew, to supplement the food taken 
in by the roots. Australia is very rich in these 
plants, over thirty species being found here alone. 
There are ten species native to Victoria : one, Drosera 
glanduligera, with scarlet flowers, all the rest hav- 
ing white flowers. Drosera Whittakeri is the small 
species that flowers so profusely in spring, the flowers 
having a sweet fragrance. The climbing sundew, 
Drosera Menziesii, is interesting and is frequently 
found in scrub with its weak climbing stems two or 
three feet in length, crowned with a cluster of white 
flowers. The forked sundew, Drosrea binata, is our 
most interesting species. It grows in wet and boggy 
places, with fairly long leaf stems, the leaves them- 
selves not being much broader than the stems, and 
branching in pairs, like a two-pronged fork, the forks 
often being two inches long. The flower stems are 
often a foot in height, carrying a nice cluster of large 
white flowers. 
The marked variability of the Australian flora 
is shown by the fact that here we possess three 
species of Mesembrianthemum or “pigs-face. ” This 
