642 president's address. 



Australia. The principal natural orders and groups, which by 

 their abundance produce this result, are the following : — 



Froteacece, Compositce. IridecE, HoeniodorecE, Polygcdece^ Resti- 

 acem, Ericacece (corresponding in South Africa to EpacridecH in 

 Australia), Papilionacece, Rutacece, Thymelece, Santalacece, and 

 some others. 



This looks like parallelism of development from a common 

 origin. 



Below is a list of the more important groups, natural orders, 

 tribes, genera or parts of genera, as the case may be, which serve 

 to make up the peculiar and predominant element of the Aus- 

 tralian Flora. The orders Protea.cece, FicoidecE and Restiacece are 

 markedly South African as well. Outside the Australian region 

 and South Africa some scattered representatives of the groups 

 mentioned are to be found. These have the character of escapees; 

 compared with the allied Australian species, their number is 

 insignificant, and one cannot avoid the conclusion that Australia, 

 or some southern land of which Australia is a remnant, was the 

 origin and home of the various races. It is true that some of 

 the outside representatives of Australian types are now separated 

 by wide gaps of ocean from their congeners, but Wallace, in his 

 "Island Life," has shown how plants can thus cross serious 

 obstacles without the existence of actual land connexion. Some 

 of the wanderers are dwellers near the seashore, and thus always 

 ready, as it were, when the means presents itself, for transport 

 by sea. Some have travelled in the reverse direction to the 

 Indian and Mala3^an immigrants, while others have reversed the 

 order of march of the European invaders already referred to, and 

 have passed up the Andes. 



Typical Australian Groups. 



DiLLENiACEiE. — Tribe Hihhertiece. 



PiTTOSPOREiE. — All genera except Pittosporutn. 



Tremandre^. 



RuTACE^. — Tribes Boroniece and Zanthoxylece. 



