78 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. XXV. 



SOME NOTES ON THE FLORA OF VICTORIA. 



By Alfred J. Ewart, D.Sc, Ph.D., F.L.S., Government Botanist, 



and Professor of Botany, Melbourne University. 

 {[lead before the Field Naturalists' Cluh of Victoria, 13th July, 1908.) 

 The early general accounts of the flora of Victoria by Baron 

 Mueller have been, to some extent, superseded by the short but 

 excellent accounts given by Mr. G. Weindorfer in the " Victorian 

 Year-Book for 1904" (issued by the Government Statist), and 

 by Mr. C. A. Topp, M.A., LL.B., in the Melbourne Handbook 

 of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 

 1900. In several respects, however, these general views need 

 amplification, especially as the progress of settlement, drainage, 

 irrigation, and cultivation continues to affect the character and 

 distribution of the native flora. The following remarks will serve 

 to complete the accounts already given, as well as to draw 

 attention to certain features which come prominently out in a 

 general view of the flora, but have not previously been discussed. 

 The factors which influence a flora and determine its characters 

 are the result of the interaction of telluric, oceanic, and solar 

 influences, and may be grouped under the following heads : — 



1. The previous geological history of the country, and its 



relationship to other countries. 



2. The present and past climate, in which the most important 



factors are — 

 {a) Average annual temperature, and extremes of heat 



and cold. 

 (6) Average annual rainfall, and its distribution through- 

 out the year, 

 (c) Character and depth of the soil. 



{d) Prevailing winds and their intensity and direction, 

 including the influence of drift sand, &c. 

 The two latter factors influence more the local than the general 

 distribution through large areas, although the influence of wind 

 on the flora of the coastal districts around Melbourne, and on 

 that of large areas of the north and south-western districts, is very 

 pronounced. 



The previous geological history of Victoria is by no means 

 certain, although evidences of elevation and subsidence are shown 

 in many parts, and volcanic eruptions and lava outbursts in past 

 ages have been responsible for the sudden destruction of the 

 local flora over wide areas. In the same way, the existing 

 evidence of glacial action points to the occurrence of a cold 

 glacial age in the history of Victoria, when arctic conditions 

 prevailed, and all the requirements were produced for the sub- 

 sequent development of a homogeneous alpine flora on the tops 

 of the lofty mountains as the cold receded and more favourable 



