BY FRED. TURNER. 135 



number and variety of dwarf plants to a given area than in the 

 Darling country. The Darling country, as defined in my paper 

 on the botany of that portion of the State, has an area of about 

 96,400 square miles, whilst the south-west, as defined by this 

 paper, has only an area of about 57,360 square miles. The latter 

 is about seven-twelfths the size of the former and is 24-86 per 

 cent, richer in indigenous species. Those circumstances may be 

 attributed to the fact that the average rainfall is slightly more, 

 that there is a fairl}^ good natural water system, that the average 

 temperature is lower, and that there is less aridity than in the 

 country north of the parallel 33°. There is another feature of 

 the south-western flora which I have observed and is worth 

 recording, namely, that on considerable areas of the plains in 

 widely separated districts such Composite as Helichrysiwi ajncu- 

 latnm^ DC, and Helipterum Jlorihundum, DC, formed about 

 sixty per cent, of the vegetation, and the same applies to certain 

 Cruciferce, especially species of the genera Blennodia and Lejji- 

 dium, also to several Chenopodiacece as Atrijylex nummularia, 

 Lindl., Kochia aphylla, R.Br., K. pyramidata^ Benth., and K. 

 sedifolia, F.v.M. (the last-named is always an indication of dry 

 country), and to Anguillaria dioica, R.Br., amongst Liliacece, 

 and to Xerotes leucGcephala, R.Br., amongst Juncacem. On 

 swampy country and on land subject to periodical inundation 

 such plants as Glyceria ramigera, F.v.M., *' Cane Grass"; Lepto- 

 chloa suhdigitata, Triii., " Cane Grass "; Mentha ausfralis, R.Br., 

 "Native Mint"; Marsllea drummoridii, A.Br., ''Nardoo"; and 

 JIuhlenheckia cunninghamii, F.v.M., "Lignum Scrub" or "Sturt's 

 Leafless Bramble," often form dense growths almost excluding 

 other vegetation. Such annuals as Erodium cygnorum, Nees, 

 " Crow-foot "; Portulaca oleracea, Linn., " Purslane "; and Tetra- 

 gonia expansa, Murr., " Warrigal Cabbage," are often the pre- 

 dominant plants on large areas at certain seasons of the year. 

 And a similar remark applies to that South African Composite, 

 Cryptostemma calendidaceum, R.Br. Quite a number of intro- 

 duced species (principally from Europe) have become acclimatised 

 in different districts, but mostly in the eastern portion. 



