IGO JOURNAL OF THE ARNOLD ARBORETUM [vol, ii 



Mass., in 1838. For many years this was not only a favorite exhibition 

 l)Lant but was also the ])arcnt of many '* Indian Azaleas" like ''Iveryana" 

 and "Cdodstanesii.*' Van Iloutte's Azalea indica pjmctidata and A, 

 indica puncfulata varicgata, whieh are figured in Flore des Serres xvi. 

 tt. 1(518-10^21 (18Cj) and are possible hybrids between R. indicum Sweet 

 and /?. Slfihsii Planehon, are still in the Magnolia Gardens. So, too, is 

 "Azalea Decora'* which is probably of the same parentage and has rich 

 red-colored flowers. This Azalea was introduced into Boston, Mass., by 

 Marshall P. Wilder in 1818, and its descendants are still in the Holm 

 Lea collection. The well-known Azalea indica alba or A, ledifoUa (/?. 

 mucronafum G, Don) and its colored form (var. ripeyisc^Wh.) are of course 

 represented at Magnolia by many fine bushes. This Azalea was intro- 

 duced into Boston some time before 1838 and is quite hardy in gardens 

 along the Hudson Tliver, New York, and on Long Island where some 

 very fine si)ecimeiis are known. The largest and oldest specimen I know 

 of, however, is in the garden of Mr. Henry F. Dupont, ^Yinterlhur, Dela- 

 ware; Lliis is G ft. 9 inches tall and 12 ft. 2 inches through the crown and 

 has been in possession of llie Dupont family since between 1835 and 1840. 



NOTES FROM AUSTRALASIA. No. I 



E. II. Wilson 



Ai-STiiALTA is a new world to one familiar only with the flora of the north- 

 ern Hemisphere. Everything is different, all the sjiecies, excepting cer- 

 tain aliens and naturalize<l weeds, most of the genera and many of the 

 families. The remarkable Grass-tree (Kingia) and the Blackboy (Xan- 

 thorrhoea) of western Au.^lralia, probably of an earlier flora than any 

 other living trees, seem out of ])lace in the absence of pachydermatous 

 animals, and wandering among them one half expects to meet an ele- 

 phant, ln'i)j)()[)otanuis or rhinoceros whilst the presence of the extinct 

 gigantic Saurians of the Jurassic Age would be in full keeping with tliese 

 strange and ancient types of vegetation. Thanks to facilities freely 

 placed at the disposal of the Arnold Arl)oretum's Expedili<m by the 

 Government of Western Australia and to the admiral>le arraiigenuMits 

 nuule by Die Conservator of Forests, Mr. C. E. Lane Boole, I traversed 

 some 2000 miles in the southern j>art of Western Australia. Alone I 

 should have been completely lost among the extraordinarily varied and 

 anomalous vegetation but the Conservator himself was my guide tlirough 

 all the imj)ortant forest areas and through the sand plains ami savannah 

 regions 1 liad the companicmship of the (Government Botanist, Mr. D. 

 A. HiTbert. Thanks to the invalual)le aid of these two men I was able 

 to familiarize myself with all the more important trees and many of the 

 larger shrubs of tlie regions traversed, an<l to appreciat<^ in a small degree 

 the enormous wealth of species. Truly the southern part of the vast 

 country designated Western Australia is a veritable botanical garden 



