130 
The Garden Magazine, April, 1923 
rounded leaves and white, fragrant eucharis-like flowers in 
umbels on scapes 2 feet high. Very remarkable are the large- 
growing Spear Lilies ( Doryanthes Palmeri and D. excelsa ), with 
broad bright green Yucca-like leaves and tall flowering stems 
terminating in massive inflorescences of crimson flowers. But 
of this group the Lily family claims the peer with its fascinatingly 
lovely Christmas Bells (Blandfordia). These have hanging 
bell-shaped flowers in umbels on stalks a foot and more high. 
In color the flowers are bright orange-red to red-brown and are 
edged with yellow. Of the four species B. flammea and its var. 
princeps are the most ornamental. One, B. grandiflora, is 
purely Tasmanian. The Dianellas with their narrow sword¬ 
like leaves are also worthy of note on account of their charming 
blue berries. 
Terrestrial Orchids, some of them with very dainty and beauti¬ 
ful flowers, are plentiful and some epiphytic ones, including 
several Dendrobiums, are found within our field though none 
of these are meritorious garden plants. North of the tropic of 
Capricorn and outside our region are found such well-known and 
valued species as Dendrobium speciosum, D. superbiens, D. 
bigibbum and D. Phalaenopsis. 
In the rain-forests Ferns in variety luxuriate. Two Tree 
Ferns are especially noteworthy, namely, the familiar Dicksonia 
antarctica and Alsophila australis; and to these same rain-forests 
we owe the noble Platycerium grande and P. alcicorne, respec¬ 
tively known as the Elk- and Stag-Horn Ferns. All are 
common epiphytes in Queensland and contiguous parts of 
northeastern New South Wales. The first-named is partial 
to the more tropical “brush” while the Stag’s Horn is fre¬ 
quently seen in the scrub, especially on Casuarina glauca. 
A Look Backward Before Proceeding 
I N CONCLUDING this necessarily brief outline of the plant 
treasures of Australia, and before we enter into an account 
of the historical facts of their discoveries (which will be the 
subject of next month’s article) it is surely worth while to 
briefly review some of the strikingly salient points to be borne 
in mind. 
Toward the close of the 18th century and through the first 
five decades of the 19th there was much activity in plant 
collecting in Australia. Seeds and plants were constantly being 
transmitted to Europe, chiefly to England, and as they flowered 
these were figured in the magazines and gardening periodicals 
of the time. It is only by turning over the pages of these old pub¬ 
lications that we are able to realize the work done at that period. 
The Australian flora as known to-day exceeds 10,700 species, 
four fifths of which 
are not known to grow 
wild elsewhere in the 
world. Of this vast 
number probably not 
more than a thousand 
have been introduced 
to northern gardens 
and but few of these 
have gained a perma¬ 
nent foothold in culti¬ 
vation. 
Had a keen garden 
spirit flourished in 
California and other 
warm parts of this 
country in those days, 
our story would have 
been different. Unfor¬ 
tunately, now when 
California is ready to 
receive these plants, 
comparatively few 
are available and they 
must be re-introduced from Australia if the restrictions of 
Quarantine 37 can be overcome. Our generation knows nothing 
of New Holland plants compared with that of our fathers. 
In lands of sunshine like southern California and adjacent 
country and the Mediterranean regions, climatic conditions will 
suit a majority of the most brilliant flowered and most desirable 
Australian plants. Take that remarkable family so well-named 
Proteaceae which is represented in Australia by 34 genera and 
about 679 species. In general cultivation 1 can think of only 
one— Grevillea robusta, raised annually from seeds to grow as a 
pot plant for decorative work and summer bedding on account 
of its elegant and graceful foliage. There are more than 190 
other species of Grevillea in Australia. As an ornamental tree 
it is abundantly grown in the tropics of both hemispheres and, 
further, it is of much value to planters as a shade-tree for Coffee, 
Cocoa and other crops. In Australia itself the future will see 
this tree grown in quantity for paper-pulp. 
Again, consider Banksia with its erect cone-like, greenish- 
white, yellow to scarlet flowers. This is one of the most strik¬ 
ingly handsome and remarkable groups of woody plants. There 
have been discovered some 60 species of which about half-a- 
dozen are slightly known in California gardens, but not one is 
commonly grown. A majority of the Proteaceae—truly a fam¬ 
ily of protean and wonderful plants—have brilliantly colored 
inflorescences and are worthy of a place in all gardens where 
climate suits. 
Among our favorite pot-plants we count Boronias; and such 
as the fragrant B. megastigma, the bright colored B. elatior, 
and B. heteropbylla are well established in our affections. So 
too are various Pimeleas, with their crowns of white and rose- 
colored blossoms, and the Chorizemas with small holly-like 
leaves and curious orange and red flowers in slender racemes. 
The free-flowering Epacris, with slender, rigid, erect stems, small 
prickly leaves and bright colored tubular Heath-like flowers are 
much less grown than their beauty merits. We occasionally 
see an odd plant of the Bottle-brush (Callistemon) and of 
the Needlebush (Hakea), but they have made no mark on 
our gardens. 
Of Australian herbs only the Swan River Daisy ( Brachycome 
iberidifolia ) and the Pink Everlasting ( Helipterum Manglesii )— 
both annuals—are really dwellers with us. The lovely Christ¬ 
mas Bells with large, conspicuous orange-red to reddish brown 
and yellow flowers are unfortunately but little familiar. These 
belong to the genus Blandfordia of which four species are known, 
the finest being B. flammea, introduced in 1850 from Sydney 
Botanic Gardens. 
The expert will, of course, recall other Australian plants in 
rare collections, but this 
does not alter the fact 
that little more than a 
dozen genera are to¬ 
day popular and estab¬ 
lished in our gardens. 
The total number is 
ridiculously small and 
the gardens of Cali¬ 
fornia alone could ac¬ 
commodate thousands. 
To stock our gardens 
we claim of the world 
its best floral treasures. 
These articles are in¬ 
tended to show whence 
and how came the gems 
we prize and to indicate 
others no less worthy 
of our possession; as, 
for certain parts of this 
country, Australia and 
South Africa hold much 
in store. 
THE SWAN RIVER DAISY 
