SPHENOTOMA GRACILIS. SLENDER SPHENOTOMA. 
CLiss V. PENTANDRIA.— Order I. MONOGYNIA. 
Natural Order, EPACRIDEA5. 
1. The two Bractes, with a leaf at the base. 2. Calyx. 3. Tube of the Corolla spread open to show the insertion of the 5 Stamens. 
4. The pubescent Ovarium, terminated by the Style and slightly two-lobed Stigma. 
A small branching evergreen Heath-like Shrub, branches long and slender, erect or ascending, thickly- 
clothed with leaves, the leafy stems hairy; the flowering ones smooth. Leaves recurved, cucullate at the 
base and sheathing the stem, leaving scars on it when they drop off": those on the main branches subulately 
lanceolate, taper-pointed, smooth on the upper side and hairy underneath, the margins fringed with long 
hairs : those on the flowering branches shorter, broader, and smooth, striate : on the flower-stem or pe- 
duncle they are lanceolate, taper-pointed, broad at the base, and pressed close to the stem. Flowers white, 
terminal, in a close ovate spike, very sweet-scented. Bractes two, at the base of the calyx, about half the 
I length of the leaf that supports it ; striate, and very hairy. Calyx of 5 sepals, that are lanceolate, acute, 
hairy, striate, the points marcescent. Corolla tubular ; limb spreading, saucer-shaped, the edges a little 
crumpled; mouth nearly closed: tube slender, about the length of the calyx. Stamens 5, inserted in the 
tube, filaments short, attached to the back of the anthers. Ovarium pubescent, 5 -celled. Style smooth, 
thickening upwards. Stigma capitate, slightly two-lobed. 
It is a native of the South coast of New Holland, and is a valuable acquisition to our Greenhouses, both 
from its beauty and the delightful fragrance of its flowers. Mr. Brown included it in the genus Draco- 
phyllum, but made it with two other nearly related species a distinct section or subgenus, to which he gave 
a proper name, which we have adopted ; and as they are so very different both in habit and character from 
the true species of Dracophyllum, we have thought it best to give them as a distinct genus. 
The present species requires to be potted in sandy peat soil, the pots to be well drained with potsherds 
that the wet may pass off readily, as nothing is more injurious to them than to be sodden with moisture : 
young cuttings, planted in pots of sand under a bellglass in Autumn, will strike root readily.* 
The generic name is derived from to connect or bind together, and to/ao?, a slice or section. 
The general character of June, (says Mr. Howitt,) in the happiest seasons, is fine, clear, and glowing, 
without reaching the intense heats of July. Its commencement is the only period of the year in which we 
could possibly forget that we are in a world of perpetual change and decay. The earth is covered with flowers, 
and the air is saturated with their odours. It is true that many have vanished from our path, but they have 
slid away so quietly, and their places have been occupied by so many fragrant and beautiful successors, that we 
have scarcely been sensible of their departure. Every thing is full of life, greenness, and vigour. Families of 
young birds are abroad, and giving their parents a busy life of it, till they can peck for themselves. Rooks 
have deserted their rookery, and are feeding their vociferous young in every pasture and under every green 
tree. The swallow and swift are careering in the clear skies, and 
Ten thousand insects in the air abound 
Flitting on glancing wings that yield a summer sound. 
Wiffen. 
The flower-garden is in the height of its splendour, Roses of almost innumerable species, — I have counted 
no less than fourteen in a cottage garden, — lillies, jasmins, speedwells, rockets, stocks, lupines, geraniums, 
pinks, poppies, valerians red and blue, mignionette, &c., and the glowing rhododendron abound. 
It is the very carnival of Nature, and she is prodigal of her luxuries. It is luxury to walk abroad, in- 
dulging every sense with sweetness, loveliness, and harmony. It is luxury to stand beneath the forest-side, 
when all is still and basking at noon; and to see the landscape suddenly dark; the black and tumultuous 
clouds to assemble as at a signal; to hear the awful thunder crash upon the listening ear; and then, to mark 
the glorious bow rise on the lurid rear of the tempest, the sun laugh jocundly, and 
Every bathed leaf and blossom fair 
Pour out its soul to the delicious air. 
It is luxury to haunt the gardens of old-fashioned houses in the morning, when the bees are flitting 
forth with a rejoicing hum ; or at eve, when the honey-suckle and the sweet-briar mingle their spirit 
Flora Australasica. 
