G ea . I . F A G U S , i .
- F lo re s monoic i. M a s c . P e r ia n ik im i campannlatum, 5 -6 -fid um . S tam in a 8-12, circa discum glandulosum
in se r ta ; antheris bilocularibus, conne ctivo excurrente. F cem. Flores 2-4, involucro urceolato 4 -lo b o
extu s bracteis adnatis in stru c to sessiles. P e ria n th ium urceolatum, tu b o cum ovario adnato, ore laciniato.
Ovarium inferum, sessile , 3-lo cu la r e; s ty lis 3 , filiformibus, ex se r tis; ovu lis locu lis solitariis, e apice lo cu li
p endulis, anatropis. F ru c tu s capsulæformis. N u c u la 2 - 4 , involucro lign o so 4 -v a lv i ex tu s lamellato v.
e chinato inclusæ, triquetræ, perigonii limbo piloso superatæ, monospe rma ; epicarpio coriaceo, endocarpio
viUoso. Semen pendulum ; te sta membranacea, ten u i ; embryone exalbuminoso, orthotropo ; cotyledonibus
crassis, carnosis, iu tu s plicatis, arete cohærentibus ; radicula subexserta, supera.— Arbores v . frutices, gemmis
p e r u la iis ; fo liis a lte rn is, se rra tis, coriaceis semperv irentibus v e l membranaceis p lic a tis e t d e c id u is; floribus
co a ta n e is.
Dissimilar as they appear at first sight, the genera Oak, Chesnut, and Beech are very closely allied indeed,
and in their female flowers ahnost identical, Fagus alone difteriiig materially from its allies in having a well-marked
perianth to the male flowers, and iu these not being aiTanged in catkins.— Monoecious, evergreen or deciduous
trees or shrubs, with scaly buds, and alternate, crenate or serrate, simple, generally unequal-sided leaves. M a k
flowers of eight to twelve stamens, seated round a glandnlar disc, occupying the centre of a bell-shaped or cup-
shaped five- or six-lobed perianth. Female flowers generally in threes, sessile in a four-lobed, coriaceous or woody
involucre, whose lobes are externally lamellated transversely or spinulose w-ith adherent bracts. Each female flower
consists o f a small ureeolate perianth, whose large tube is adherent to a three-celled ovary, and limb generaUy
silky and laciniate. Styles three, exserted. Ovules solitary in each cell, pendulous. As the fn iit ripens, each
flower assumes the appearance of a triquetrous nut, containing one exalbuminous seed, surrounded by a membranous
testa, and that again by the coriaceous brown perianth aduate ivith the proper pericarp ; the two other cells,
with their ovules, being obliterated. Cotyledons finn, fleshy, often plaited internaUy, more or less connate ; radicle
superior. (Name, in Greek, from to e a t)
1. Fagus Cuuninghamii (H o ok . Journ. B o t. v ii. anno 1840, 152, t. 7) ; foliis sempervirentibus
crasse coriaceis rhombeis ovato-deltoideis grosse inæqualiter cr enato-dentatis basi cuneatis cordatisve ju n io ribus
non plicatis, involuc ri laciniis 4 oblongo-lanceolatis spinis mollibus apice incrassatis seriebus trans-
versis instructis. [Gunn, 178.)
H a b . Common, especially in mountainous and western humid districts, forming a large proportion of
the forest, and asc ending to 4 0 0 0 feet as a shrub. (Colonial name, “ Myrtle-tree.” )
D i s t iu b . W ilso n ’s Promontory, Y ic tor ia, M u e lle r.
This well-known tree, though so common in Tasmania, appears to be extremely rare on the Australian coast,
and confined (?) to the locality where gathered by Mueller. It is readily distinguished from the following by its
coriaceous, evergreen leaves, as well as by its size, etc. In Tasmania, Gunn says that it forms the principal tree
in fully one-half o f the forests, growing mixed with Eucalyptus and Atherosperma ; its shade is so dense that no grass
grows under it, the surface o f the ground being covered with Mosses, Hepaticæ, Ferns, and Fungi. Even animals
and birds are rare, except flocks of the Black Cockatoo, ivhich feed on the grubs contained in the decaying trees.
It often attains 4 0 feet in girth, and 200 in height, yielding an excellent timber.
2 . Fagus Gunnii (N o b . in Ho ok . Ic . P lant, t . 8 8 1 ) ; fruticosa, prostrata v. suberecta, ramulis Ibliis-
que subtus secus nervos pilosis, foliis deciduis membranaceis, jum oribus plicatis, brevissime petiolatis late
ovato-rotundatis basi subobliquis ob tu sis emarginatisve crenato-serratis, stip u lis subulatis basi gibboso-in-
flatis, iuvoluc ri laciniis 4 linearibus in teg r is dorso sim plici serie lamellatis lamellis sinuato-crenatis, nucibus
la te 3-alatis. [G u im , 2 9 8 4 ) .
FLORA OF TASMANIA. 3 ^ 7
r Maequarrie Harbour, elev.H a b . S ummit o f Mou n t Olympus, and mountains near Î 4 - 5 0 0 0 feet, Gunn,
M illig a n . (Fl. Jan.)
This curious species forms o smuB dense bush, often covering the ground with an impenetrable sornb 6 -8 feet
high, bnt would probably become a tree iu favourable loeallties; it is readily distinguished from E. OmmmjUmn
by its size and deciduous leaves, which are plicate in vernation.
N a t . O e d . LX X V . CASUARINEÆ.
Gen. I . C A SU A K IN A , j
M o r a dioici v . monoici. M a s c . Am en te terminalia, graeilia, floribns in axillis vaginarum verticillatis.
PeriantJánm 2-p h yllum , bibracteolotum, foliolis apice calyptratim eolitcrentibus. Stamen 1 ; filamento flh-
formi, in n a to ; anthera biloenlari. Ï ™ . Am en ta ramulis brevibus lateralibus breviter stipitata, globosa.
Ovarium leutioulare, iu axilla braeteæ p ersisteiltis sessile , bracteolis 2 navicularibus primum in c lu sis ; p en a n ,
thio 0 ■ sty lo brevissimo termiuali, stigmatibus 2 e longatis flliformibus; ovulis 2 , oollateralibus, supra basin
lo cn li aflixis, semi-auatropis. S troU lu e lign o su s, oblongus v. breviter cylindraeeus, e bracteis braeteo-
lisque ligiie scen tib u s connatis formatas. Caryopsie compressa, apice alata, pnmum bracteolis capsulam
bivalvem mentientibus inclusa, demum usdem apertis nud ata; pericarpio vasibus spiralibus faroto. Semen
1 , erectum, funiculo medio seminis lateraliter inserto, cum ovulo abortivo suffulto; testa membranacea.
Embryo ex a lb um in o su s; cotyledonibus magrús oblongis com pre ssis; m f c f a m in im a , supera.— F rútice s ».
arbores, ramio ramulisque u e r tiá lla tü , nodoso-artieulatis, su le a tú : articuiis v a g in a tis : vagmis su lca tis, ore
eformia subulata d e sin en te : foliis p r im a r iis oppositis, squamæformibus, cæ ten s in vaginam
connatis.
Of this veiy remarkable germs, the only one o f its Order, I have seen about twenty-five Australian species,
together with a few Polynesian and Malayan Island o n e s ; of the latter, one is fouud far north as Arracan, on
the Malayan peninsula, and fr ’cultivated all over India, and in many parts of Africa and its islands. Though
very different in hahit from every other Order, this is related to the Bet.laeeæ (Biroh and Alder) and Mg-
riceæ differing trom these, and indeed from almost all Dicotyledonons plants, in their leaves being whorled, and
united by their margins into sheathing joints, like those ot Jlquisetum. The Anstralian species .r e fonnd on all the
coasts, bnt more abundantly in the south-western q n a r te r .-fflrn is or trees, with whorled branehes, and branches
that are eylnidiieal, striated, and jointed, each joint bearing at its summit a short toothed sheath, composed of minute
connate leaves, which are elongate and reenrved in the terminal shoots o f some speeies; these are thrown off
as th’e wood matures, and the latter becomes striated iu the branches. Elomers monoecious or dicecious, the males
in slender tenninal catkins, formed of shortened joints, in the sheaths of which the flowers appear ; these are generaUy
cnual in mimber to the teeth ot the sheath, and consist o t one stamen, with two bractlets and as many pen-
nnth-leaves at its base; these perianth-leaves cohere in a calyptrate manner over the anther, which eames them
up as its filament elongates, and finally carries them ont ot the sheath o f leaves. Eemale f o u e r s extremely densely
crowded, in smafl, globose, lateral capitula, which are covered with their long stigmas ; when young, each flower
is fonnd to consist of an excessively minute ovniy, with two ffliform stigmas, enclosed between two bracteolæ, which
avain have a bract placed outside them; the ovary contains two ovnles. and ripens into a fl.lt black oaryopsis,
w f r v e d a t th c s p e x ; during ripening the lateral bracts cohere into woody two-valved eapsrdes, of which the ripe
stiobilus is formed. Ferioarp winged, full of matted spirid vessels. Fv.brgo exalbnmmons, with large, flattish
cotyledons, and a superior radicle, (Name s.sid to he from the resemblance ot the pensile branchlets to the feathers
of the Cassowary.)
1 . Casuarina quadrivalvis (Lab. PL N o v . U o ll. li. 6 7 . t. 2 1 8 ) ; ramnlis pendulis elongatis teretl-
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