134 BOTANY OF SOUTH-WESTERN NEW SOUTH WALES, 



Murrumbidgee, Murray or Hume, Edward and Wakool. There 

 are also several lakes, of which the following are the principal : — 

 Cudgellico and Urana in the east; Pitarpunga, Yanga, Moor- 

 nanyah, Yartla, Popilta and Victoria in the west. In propitious 

 seasons the deep depressions and billabongs generally contain 

 great quantities of water. Considerable enterprise has been 

 shown by pastoralists, who have made many dams and tanks for 

 the conservation of water. The Government also has done a 

 considerable amount of good work in testing the western portion 

 of this region for artesian supplies of water, and a number of 

 wells have been sunk into the tertiary beds, but those I saw did 

 not yield much water. 



The Flora. 



In the early part of 1875 I made my first collection of plants 

 in the South-Western portion of New South Wales whilst on my 

 first visit to Albur3^ But it is only during the last twent3''-one 

 years that I have many times traversed this region, systematically 

 collecting the flora and writing more than fifty special reports on 

 the economic value of the vegetation growing over different parts 

 of this area. In addition, I have figured and described, as to 

 their economic value, many of the useful plants of this region 

 under instructions from the Government of New South Wales. 

 In very many respects the flora differs from that found in the 

 Darling country,"^ though there are a great number of plants 

 common to both these sections. Speaking generally, the vegeta- 

 tion might be described as intermediate in character between 

 that found north of the parallel 33° and that growing in the 

 north-western portion of the adjoining State of Victoria. Near 

 the rivers and most of the water-courses, the arboreal vegetation 

 attains larger dimensions, much of the Mallee grows taller, the 

 shrubby growth and herbaceous plants generally having a less 

 rigid habit and more luxuriant foliage, whilst the flora of the 

 plains generally grows more densely and consists of a greater 



* These Proceedings, 1903, p. 406. 



