BY FRED. TURNER. 415 



established on inferior country it certainly would be wise to 

 judiciously thin them out, then those that are left would prove 

 of considerable commercial value and in the near future might 

 be classed as a valuable State asset. 



Amongst the MonocotyleJoneca I have found only one orchid 

 {Cymhidium canaliculatiim, Pt.Br.) and that is an epiphytal 

 species. It was of some slight food value to the aborigines who 

 used to eat its pseudobulbs which contain a small amount of 

 starch. The Amarylluhce consist of one species of Crinum and 

 two of Calostemma, which grow over fairly large areas usually of 

 a sandy nature in different parts of the far west. When in bloom 

 these plants make a magnificent disjDlay, which would quite 

 astonish any botanist or horticulturist seeing it for the first time. 

 I have successfully grown these plants in the neighbourhood of 

 Sydney, and I can highly recommend them for more extensive 

 cultivation. A few species of the lily family are found almost 

 all over this area. Two of them, Bulbine bulbosa, Haw., and JJ. 

 semibarbata, Haw,, are suspected poison plants. Juncus com- 

 munis, E. Mey., is spreading, particularly on the margins of the 

 streams flowing from some of the artesian wells. The dissemina- 

 tion of this plant is probably due to water fowl unconsciously 

 carrying the ripe seeds on their legs or webbed feet and deposit- 

 ing them far from the plants on which the}^ were matured. 

 CyperacecB are numerous in many parts, but Graminece are 

 abundant, as there are thirty-nine genera and ninety-nine species 

 besides varieties, as well as several introduced ones. Of the 

 number indigenous to this region I have figured and described 

 (as to their economic value) fift3'-one, under the authority of the 

 Government of New South Wales. 



Acotyledonea',, as far as vascular Cryptogams are concerned, and 

 this Census does not take into account cellular Cryptogams, are 

 poorly represented. I have only observed five species arranged 

 under three natural orders. One of the most interesting of these 

 plants is the " Nardoo," Marsilea drummondii, A.Br. A figure 

 and full description of this plant appears in my book on the 

 indigenous " Forage Plants of Australia" (non grasses). 



