310 rORA&E-PLANTS II^TDIGENOTIS IX I^EW SOUTH WALES 



Asplenium ? sylvaticum, Prest. LYCOPODiACEiE. 



Asplenium simplicifrons, F.v.M. Selaginella Jlahellata, Spring. 



AIsoj)hiIaLeicJiha)'dtiana,Y.y.M., S. concinna, Spring. 



A. Reheccce, P. Muell. Lycopodium p>hlegmaria, Linn. 



OlS' THE rORAOE-PLAlSTS IISTDIOEXOUS IX NeW SoUTH WaLES. 



Bx W. WooLLs, Ph. D., P.L.S. 



In a country like Xew South "Wales, of wliicli the length is 

 000 mile??, the mean breadth 600 miles, and the superficial area 

 upwards of 300,000 square miles, we may naturally look for great 

 diversity of soil and climate, and hence the forage-plants of some 

 parts of the colony are very different from those of others. 

 Taking, however, a general view of the subject, such plants may 

 be divided into two classes, viz. : those of the coast-districts, and 

 those beyond the Dividing E-ange, though it will be found that 

 some species are common to both. 



1. The coast districts, which have a varying breadth of from 30 

 to 100 miles, lie to the East of the Dividing Eange, and as they 

 constitute the earliest settlements of the colony, they comprehend 

 a greater portion of introduced plants than the wide plains of 

 the interior. In some cases, it is difilcult to determine whether 

 certain species are indigenous or not, seeing that they have taken 

 j)ossession of extensive areas, and, if really of foreign origin, 

 have long since become naturalized amongst us. Of these 

 Cynodoii dactijlon (Pers.) or Couch Grass is the most remarkable, 

 as affording excellent pasture and being capable of resisting 

 extreme drought. As this grass (though probably of Asiatic 

 origin) is described in It. Brown's Prodromus (1810), and is 

 enumerated amongst Baron Mueller's " Select Extra-tropical 

 Plants," I cannot but regard it as one of our most useful forage- 

 plants in the Coast Districts, as it contains I'OO per cent of starch 

 and 3*60 of sugar (P.v.M. and L. Eummcl), and is much relished 



