132 THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN FLORA, 
as the seeds and rhizomes of different regions are here brought toge- 
ther by means of the winter rains. In most cases, however, the dif- 
ferences are sufficiently well-marked to strike the most inexperienced 
cockney, 
The same dichotomy which prevails locally in the approximating 
Floras of the-country, manifests itself also with respect to time, in the 
change of seasons. The names of the European seasons have, indeed, 
been imported to South Australia, but there are in truth only two, a 
dry and a wet, that can readily be distinguished. The gradual cessa- 
tion of the rainy season can as little be compared with our spring, as 
- its tardy entrance with our autumn. 
The beginning of the winter rains, which in most districts may be 
assumed as April, elicits from the soil, changed by the dryness of the 
summer months to ashes, its earliest green, which glimmers forth from 
under the dead stems, and is only to be readily perceived on the lands 
which have been wasted by fire. Except the flowers of a few Eucalypti, 
which are developed at this late season, the grass-land shows only the 
stems, and the hard leathery leaves of its trees and few bushes, its 
yellow haulms, or the ground wasted by fire. Soon, however, under 
the influence of the winter rains, the soil becomes covered with fresh 
juicy turf, interrupted by larger or smaller pools of water. Beautiful 
Droseras and the dwarf Oxalis cognata form the vanguard of a host of 
lovely flowers, which in the course of a few weeks emerge rapidly from 
the soil. The bright sunny days which now and then interrupt the 
rainy season, towards the end of August become more and more fre- 
quent, and a profusion of flowers, which in many places almost conceals 
the turf, is rapidly developed upon the land, strengthened by the sum- 
mer rest, and fertilized by continued rains. The Orchidee, Melantha- 
cee, and Asphodelee, in equal variety and beauty, and often disposed in 
figures resembling parterres, shine forth pre-eminently from the smiling 
green. Stackhousias fill the mild spring air with their honey-like scent, 
and creeping Kennedias, with glowing red blossoms, lurk beneath the 
overarching culms, above which the fine-stalked Bell-flowers swing, and 
Buttereups wave their yellow heads. -A crowd of European kinds en- 
twine themselves in the series of genuine Australian forms, just as the 
entire surface of the country, with its light park-like groves of Fuca- 
lyptus, reminds us of the meadows at home. New forms are now de- 
veloped in quick succession; every week offers fresh flowers. The pools 
