A very remarkable genus, fonnd in all parts o f Australia, aud one of the Australian tropical species also inhabits
tbe Malayan Islands ; there are also a New Zealand, aud oue or two Polynesian species. About a dozen AnstraUan
Idnds are known to me.— Fr®«, often conical, or sbmbs, with jointed, fuiTowed, slender green branches and
branchlets, and minute (rarely linear or broad flat) leaves. Flowers very minute, in smaU axiUary spikes or glorae-
rides, sessüe. Feriantk four- or five-parted, rotate, valvate. Stamens one opposite each lobe o f the perianth, almost
sessile. Stigma almost sessüe. Fruit an oblong or globose one-seeded nut, seated on the baccate apex of the
peduncle. (Name from eiu), outside, and KopTros, f r u i t ; the swollen peduncle resembhng tlie fruit.)
1 . Exocarpus cupressiformis (Lab. V o y . i. 1 1 5 . t. 1 4 ) ; arborea, ramis ramulosis, ramulis graci-
libus ter etiusculis, foliis m inutis deuticulæformibus patulis, spicis breviter pedunculatis, nuc ib u s globosis
oblongisve lævibus. {Gunn, 5 3 8 .)
St.— (Fl. S ept.) (y. y.) “ N a -
H.vb. Common in most parts o f th e Islan d , b u t rare to the N ortli-w
tiv e Cherry” and “ Cherry-tree” o f the Colonists.
D i s t r i b . S outh-eastern Australia ; N ew South W a le s and Victoria. (Cultivated in En g lan d .)
A very common, and, according to Gunn, variable, small, pale-green, leafless tree or shrub, sometimes having
cl straight tnuik, and conical, eypress-Uke head, 20 feet high, at others having weeping branches, and again being a
small shmb, with fastigiate branches.— very numerous, much divided, slender, nearly terete.— ieaye®, minute
scales. Spikes 1 - 1 4 hue long, shortly peduncled. NuU 4 inch long, globose or ovoid, the swollen peduncle
oblong, scarlet, eatable, but austere.
2. Exocarpus stricta (Br. Prodr. 3 5 7 ) ; frutex erectus fastigiatim ramosus, ramulis angulatis
flexuosis subtriquetris striatis, foliis minutis denticulæformibus, spiculis glomeruliformibus subsessilibus,
iiucibus g lobosis lævibus, pedúnculo incrassato albo. {Gunn, 5 3 9 .)
H a b . Common in poor land.— (FL O c t.) (y. y.)
D i s t r i b . N ew Sou th W a le s and Victoria. (Cultivated in E ngland.)
-An erect bush, 3 -5 feet h igh, with flexuous brauches, and long, slender, acutely three-angled, striated branchlets.
Leaves as in F. cupressiformis. Spikes short, and almost sessüe. Peduncle o f the fm i t small, white, transparent.
3 . Exocarpus humifusa (Br. Prodr. 3 5 6 ) ; humilis, depressus, caule fruticoso procumbente, ramis
ramulisque teretibus sulcatis, foliis m inutis denticulæformibus, spiculis se ssilibus glomeruliformibus, floribus
4-fidis, nuce oblonga.— E . nanus, N o l. in L on d . Journ. B o t. vi. 2 8 1 . {Gunn, 3 1 7 .)
H a b . Alp in e regions, not uncommon at elevations o f 1 5 0 0 - 4 0 0 0 fee t, Gunn.
D i s t r i b . A lp s o f V ic to r ia ; Cobboras Mountain, M u e lle r. (Cultivated in England.)
My Tasmanian specimens are very small, and not in flower ; they resemble minute specimens of E. cupressiformis,
but the perianth is four-cleft. The nut is very smaU, ovoid, about I 4 line long ; the plant appears to grow
({iiite prostrate amongst stones, moss, etc.
Geu. I I . L E P T OM E R IA , Dr .
Flores spicati, 1-bracteati, rarius solitarii e t ebracteati. P e ria n th ium rotatum, persistens, 4 -5 -p a r titum.
S tam in a 4 - 5 , sub disco epigyno 4 -5 - lo b o inserta. S tigm a lobatum. B ru p a coronata.— Frútices
a ph ijlli, V. f o l i i s m inimis ; d en tieu la fo rm ibu s ; floribus m in im is ; bracteis d e c id u is ; drupa p le rum qu e baccata,
acida.
O f this curious genus about twenty species are known, aU o f them confined to Australia and Tasmania, and
the majority to the Swan River Colony. All are shrubs, leafless, or with minute scale-likc leaves, and small axillary
spikes of extremely minute flowers. Perianth rotate, four- or five-cleft, with as many stamens at the base o f its
lobes, inserted beneath a lobed epigynous disc. Stigma lobed. Drupe with an areola at the top, surrounded by the
persistent remains of the perianth,
and branches.)
(Name from Aeirros, slender, and /xepos, a p a r t ; in allusion to the slender stems
1. Leptomeria Biilardieri (Br. Prodr. 3 5 4 ) ; frutex aphyllus v. foliis paucis minimis, ramulis grac
ilibus angulatis, floribus spicatis, perianthio 5-fido, bracteis lanceolatis caducis, stigmate stellatim 5-fido,
disci glandulis distinc tis, drupa carnosa.— Thesium drupaceum, Lah. N o v . E o ll. i. 6 8 . t. 9 3 . {Gunn, 2 6 0 .)
Var. f l. h um ilis ; 1 -2 -p e d a lis , caule ramisque robustis.— A n sp. d istin c ta ? {Gunn, 1 2 4 5 .)
H a b . In poor moist soil, especially sandy places near the N o r th coast.— (F l. Oct.) {v. v .) Var. fl.
Lak e St. Clair, Gunn.
D i s t r i b . N ew South YY^’ales and Victoria. “ N a tiv e Currant” o f colonists.
An erect, very pretty shmb, according to Gunn, 4 - 7 feet high, with erect but not stiff branches, wbite flowers,
and greenish-red beii-ies of a pleasant acid taste. Branches slender, striated. Flowers in slender axiUary spikes,
4-4 inch long, very minute, pedieelled, with a deciduous bract at the base of the pedicel. Penanth flve-lobed.
— The var. fl appears to me to be a form o f this, growing only 1 - 2 feet liigh, with very much shorter, stouter, rigid
branches, unaccompanied with any difference in the flower and fmit. A species o f homopterous insect covers the
branches o f this variety with its curious white nidus.
Gen. I I I . T H E S IUM , D.
^ Flores racemosi, pedunculis bracteis p ersistentibus foliaceis adnatis. P e ria n th ium tubulosum, infundi-
buliforme v. hypocrateriforme, persistens, 4 -5 - fid um , eglandnlosum, disco epigyno n u llo. S tam in a laciniis
perianthii inserta, dorso barbata. N u x corticata, periantliio coronata.— Herbæ v. sufl'ruticuli g r a c ile s ; foliis
angustis, linearibus, a lte rn is ; racemis terminaUbus ; floribus p a r v is .
A very curious genus o f herbaceous plants, abundant in Southern Europe and Westem A sia, parasitic on roots.
— Stems slender. Leaves linear. Racemes terminal. Flowers tribracteate, adnate to the petiole o f the large
bract, wliich is leafleted, and with the two smaUer bracts placed laterally beneath the perianth. T. australe is tlie
only AustraUan species, and has slender, simple, or sparingly branched stems, 6 -S inehes high. Leaves very narrow,
1 inch long, acuminate, bracteate, simüar to the cauline. Flowers soUtary, almost sessüe, about 1 Une long,
Perianth four- or five-cleft, its segments abont as long as tlie tube. (Name a Greek one, ^ a to v , appUed to som°e
plant.)
1. Thesium australe (Br. Prodr. 3 5 3 ) ; caule gracili, foliis an gu ste linearibus acuminatis, racemo
elongato, floribus subsessilibus, perianthii laciniis tubo subæquilongis lon g itudinalite r marginatis.
H a b . Tasmania, Lawrence.
D i s t r ib . N ew South Wale s and Ytictoria.
N a t . O r d . L X X II. EUPHORBIACEÆ.
In accordance with th e arrangement o f D e Candolle, I liave placed th is N.atural Order amongst the
U m w cU am y d v x , bu t its nearest affinities are nndoubtedfy with M alvaceæ and Mhamnea. I have sto n up-
wai-ds o t 1 6 0 Anstralian species o t this Order, amongst w hich are probably inclnded most o f those described
species which I have n o t been able to identity by their descriptions, for fully two-thirds o f the above I have
been unable to name. These are included under abont 4 0 genera, o f which about 15 are peculiar to
Anstr.alia, and the remainder are principally natives o f India and the Malayan Archipelago, Ab ou t 5 0 are
tropical plants, several o f whicb are rather widely distributed, b e lon g in g to th e genera P h yÜ a n thm , Bu-
p h o r iia , OmalanOim, and BSUlera. About 4 0 species arc conflned to S outli-we st Australia, and the
majority both o f genera and species are found in N ew South Wales and Victoria. O f the close ly allied
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