12 Linnean Society. [Feb. 5, 



trate its vegetable riches in an extensive and philosophic manner. 

 Notvs^ithstanding the important discoveries since made, his re- 

 marks, and especially those upon the botanical geography of that 

 country, (published nearly twenty years ago,) have been confirmed 

 by subsequent observations. The great approximation tovi^ards the 

 European Flora, in that part of the country first explored by the 

 author, agrees perfectly with the following observation of Mr. Brown : 

 " It appears that a much greater proportion of the peculiarities of the 

 Australian Flora exist in this, which I have therefore called the prin- 

 cipalparaUel (between 33° and 35° S. latitude), and that many of 

 them are nearly confined to it.*" The author proposes the follow- 

 ing geographical division of the Flora of the south-eastern part of 

 New Holland. 



1st. The coast vegetation. — This class of vegetation clothes the 

 almost moveable sand of the coast, and the rocks of sandstone of the 

 coal formation, or skirts the ponds of salt or brackish water. Epa- 

 cris, Boronia, Lambertia, Astroloma, Xanthorrhaa, Hakea, Banksia, 

 &c. are the most characteristic genera, forming usually a dense 

 shrubbery of stiff and harsh plants. Of trees, scarcely any but 

 species of Eucalyptus are to be met with. 



2nd. Vegetation of the rocky gullies near the sea coast. — Such lo- 

 calities are generally characterized by small creeks or springs of fresh- 

 water, of which the localities of the former class are mostly devoid. 

 Two palms, Corypha australis and Seaforthia elegans, and the won- 

 der of Australian forests, Doryanthes excelsa, adorn these localities. 



3rd. The Argyle vegetation characterizes those park-like spots, with 

 their stately Eucalyptus trees growing at some distance from each 

 other, with very little underwood, which have attracted the notice of 

 travellers, from Tasman down to those of our times. The geological 

 features of this region consist of various rocks, the sandstone of the 

 coal formation excepted, which last never yields a good soil. The 

 genera of this class of vegetation are various grasses, Thlaspi, Cera- 

 stium, Thymus, Scandix, Hydrocotyle, Dianella, Exarrhena, Silene, 

 Hypericum, &c., many of them European forms, and soft juicy 

 l)lants. Where this vegetation occurs are to be found some of the 

 most advantageous parts of the colony for the purposes of grazing. 



4th. The Menero vegetation comprehends the Flora of those exten- 

 sive downs which extend on the east side of the Alps to the extent 

 of more than a hundred miles, and which are capable of maintaining 

 vast numbers of sheep and other cattle. These downs joresent a dif- 



* General remarks, geographical and systematical, on the Botany of 

 Terra Australis, p. 586. 



