142 DE. FERD. MULLER's BOTAKICA.L REPOET 



have added since from places formerly inaccessible, exclusive of 

 Cryptogamia, at least 1000 species. 



Assuming that the increase of new Australian cryptogamic 

 plants comprises 500 species, which cannot be considered over- 

 rated, when we remember how far alone our marine flora, through 

 the investigations of Professor Harvey, became augmented ; and if 

 only, of those plants which resulted from the North A.ustralian 

 expedition, 500, as mentioned before, are regarded as wanting in 

 the existing former collections ; — I believe we may then safely 

 assume, that we are at present more or less acquainted with 9000 

 Australian plants. 



The scantiness of the vegetation observed by Capt. Sturt and 

 by us towards Central Australia ; the very limited number of new 

 plants contained in a considerable collection formed by Mr. Wil- 

 helmi, west of Spencer's Grulf ; the extensive range of identical 

 species along the tropical east coast, and your own observations on 

 the decrease of plants towards the interior of Western Australia ; — 

 are sufficient reasons to anticipate, that botanical travellers in 

 future will add scarcely 1000 truly distinct plants to those hi- 

 therto accumulated, and that, consequently (with the omission of 

 minute fungi), the vegetable empire of all Australia, inclusive 

 of Tasmania, does in all probability not comprise above 10,000 

 species. 



Many of the indigenous vegetable productions proved eminently 

 useful to the expedition ; still it cannot be denied that their num- 

 ber, as far as ascertained, remains exceedingly limited, compared 

 with the total of the plants observed ; and attention has already 

 been directed to most of them by Dr. Leichhardt ; but in con- 

 sequence of an extensive loss of specimens, he was deprived of the 

 opportunity of determining many of those useful plants with bo- 

 tanical accuracy ; and I shall therefore offer our own observations. 



NympJicea gigantea and a second species, both allied to the 

 sacred Lotus of the ancient Egyptians {Nymphsa lotus), adorn in 

 a variable shade of colours everywhere the waters of the warmer 

 zone of Australia. The seed-vessels and the roots of these water- 

 lilies form a large proportion of the vegetable food of the northern 

 natives, and the former particularly will always be regarded as a 

 providential gift in cases of need, by explorers of the North 

 Australian wilderness. Yet more valuable, but less frequent, is 

 Nelumbium speciostim, which reaches to East Australian extra- 

 tropical latitudes. Being identical with the well-known Pytha- 



