BilleniaceceJ] 
THE COLONY OP VICTORIA. 
17 
Hibbertia acicularis. —Pleurandra acicularis, Labill. Nov. Noll . Plant . Spec. ii. p. 6, t. 144. 
A small procumbent or diffused shrub; branches furrowed; leaves glabrous, rigid, linear, acute, 
miteronulate, with repressed margins; peduncles as long as or longer than the bracteolate calyx ; sepals 
slightly downy, nearly ovate and orbicular; stamens 5-8; ovaries 1-2, velvet-downy; carpels 1-2-seeded; 
arillus membranous, obscurefy lobed. 
On heathy ground, particularly in moist localities near the sea-coast; at Wilson’s Promontory, Port 
Albert, the entrance of the Snowy'River, between La Trobe River and Merriman’s Creek. Occurs also in the 
northern parts of Tasmania, on the islands of Bass’s Straits, and in New South Wales as far north as 
Moreton Island. 
A neat little plant, from a few inches to one foot high, with spreading stems and branches. Root 
tortuous, not much divided. Branches brown, smooth; their bark grey, finally peeling off. Leaves strongly 
resembling those of some epacrideous plants, stiff, 2-10 lines long, ^-§ line broad, on very short stalks, 
nerveless, shining, smooth or on the upper convex side slightly tubercled, blunt at the base, with narrow 
closely repressed margins, thus apparently bistriate beneath; their axils bearded. Peduncles axillary and 
terminal, solitary or rarely twin, glabrous, producing at the summit and occasionally also below the apex a 
small or diminutive linear-lanceolate or subulate bracteole. Sepals about 2 lines long; the outer ones 
cuneate- and spathulate-ovate; the inner ones more orbicular and with broader membranous margin; all 
connate into an attenuate base of the calyx, at the back scantily short-downy, at the top not distinctly 
mucronate. Length of the obcordate petals equal to or double that of the calyx. Stamens free, or at their 
base united, hardly longer than the oblong anthers, which measure in length J-g line, and burst with introrse 
slits. Ovaries 2 or sometimes 1, velvet-downy. Styles 1-1J line long, capillary. Carpels 1-2-seeded, 
outside slightly downy, inside glabrous, almost as long as the calyx. Seeds nearly globose, smooth, shining, 
dark-brown, 1 line long, half enclosed in the oblique white arillus. 
Labillardiere’s figure does not well express the ordinary state of our plant. The leaves are not gradually 
attenuated into the base, but abruptly contracted into the stalk; the petals of our specimens are broader and 
extend considerably beyond the calyx. 
It flowers during the spring. 
On stony mountains at Glen Osmond, in the Bugle Ranges, and towards Mount Remarkable (within 
the colony of South Australia), occurs a closely allied species, of which the fruit is yet unknown. It differs 
chiefly in higher erect growth, sessile flowers, and glabrous sepals. P. acerosa, JR. JBr . in Cand . Syst. i. 422; 
P. juniperina, Turcz. in Bullet. JMoscou, xxii. 6, and P. mucronata, Turcz , l. c., 1852, 138, rank evidently 
near to P. acicularis. P. mucronata occurs on West Mount Barren. 
Sect. II. Cyclandra. Hibbertia, Andr., R . Brown, Be Candolle l. c. 
Stamens surrounding the ovaries. 
ZZibbertia ericifolia, J. Hook. Flor . Tasm. i. t . 3. 
Stems erect, diffuse or frequently procumbent, much branched; leaves small, linear or ovate - and 
oblong-linear, with revolute or refracted margin, glabrous, scabrous, or as well as the branches and sepals 
often hirtellous; peduncles as long as or shorter then the calyx, rarely longer; jlomers ebvacteolate, terminal, 
solitary; sepals distinctly connate at the attenuate base, at last spreading; petals obcordate-cuneate; stamens 
8-15, irregularly approached in three fascicles or scattered; ovaries three, velutinous or tomentose, with 3-4 
ovules; carpels 1-3-seeded; arillus membranous, of less than half the length of the seeds. 
On stony mountains, particularly in the highlands, also on subalpine meadows; for instance, on the 
Buffalo Ranges, on the ranges along the McAllister River, on Mount Welling*ton, near the Cobboras 
Mountains, &c. It is known besides only as a native of Tasmania. 
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