142 ' THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 
INTERESTING PLANTS FROM FATRETELD. 
By A. A. Hamilton. 
On the reserve by the side of the railway-line the 
weedy, ubiquitous, Helichrysum apiculatum, D.C., and 
its equally widespread relative, Vittadina australis, A. 
Rich., were noted, both of which are distributed by the 
agency of the wind, the fluffy pappus on the seeds 
(achenes) being blown about like thistledown; Desmo- 
diwm varians, Endl., with its peculiar pod, so constricted 
between the seeds that each portion at maturity separates 
from its neighbour and becomes a separate entity 
(article) ; Chenopodiwm carinatum, R.Br., a member of 
the ‘“Goose-foot’’ family of Britain, and the Salt-bush 
family of Australia; and numerous grasses and weeds 
(for which the railway reserves are a nursery), grown 
from seeds scattered by passing railway trucks. Enter- 
ing the bush, which consists chiefly of ‘‘Tea-trees,’’? Bur- 
saria spinosa, Cav. (‘‘Black-thorn’’), ete., typical of flat 
Wianamatta shale country, a ‘‘Mistletoe,’? Loranthus 
miraculosus, Miq., was noted on its customary host, Mela- 
leuca parviflora, Lindl. This species was named L. mela- 
leucae, by Leuhmann, because of its partiality for that 
genus as a host plant. The berries when ripe are pale 
pink, deepening into red, succulent, and viscid, and the 
leaves of this form are much narrower than those of L. 
pendulus, Sieb., under which species it is placed in Moore’s 
Handbook; Vernonia cinerea, Less., of which two forms 
were seen, one glabrous, with purple florets, the other hairy, 
with white florets; Hpaltes australis, Less., whose pre- 
sence iS an indication of sour, ill-drained land. On the 
banks of George’s River the ‘‘ Water Plantain,’’? Alisma 
plantago, lu., was found, with its large panicles of some- 
what insignificant flowers standing well above the broad, 
strongly-veined leaves; Cladium mariseus, R. Br., and 
Cyperus trinervis; R.Br., two somewhat rare Cyperaceous 
plants (the latter is not recorded in Woolls’ list). In a 
waterhole near by, the aquatic Damasoniwm australe, 
Salisb, with its floating leaf lamina, and flexuous flower- 
ing stems, carrying the peculiar beaked fruiting carpels, 
with horizontally spreading rays, ‘‘Star-fruit,’’ was noted. 
