80 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. XXV. 



prevail. Although this limit is reached in parts of South Gipps- 

 land, the Otways, and on some of the higher mountain ranges, 

 it is only over limited areas, which represent a relatively small 

 portion of the total surface of Victoria. The conditions are, 

 therefore, very different to those prevailing on the west coasts 

 of Ireland or Tasmania, where, owing to the high rainfall, 

 enormous tracts of land are quite unsuited for the ordinary 

 practice of agriculture, though, naturally, not entirely useless. 

 Even in Victoria, however, if the curves for rainfall and tempera- 

 ture coincided instead of being opposed — i.e., if the rains of the 

 south fell on the northern areas — the climate, flora, and agri- 

 cultural possibilities of the State would be enormously improved, 

 and irrigation would be largely unnecessary. 



As it is, there are over 2,000 species of flowering plants and 

 vascular cryptogams in Victoria ; and when the lower crypto- 

 gams — Algae, Musci, Fungi, &c. — are added, the species total 

 fully 5,000. England possesses about 1,200 flowering plants and 

 ferns ; but, owing to its relatively large expanse of coast and its 

 more uniformly moist climate. Algae, Musci, and Fungi are better 

 represented. 



The climate of Victoria may be fairly compared with that of 

 the south of France or Spain, but the flora is widely dissimilar as 

 regards the species and genera, and even some of the orders 

 (Proteacese) of which it is composed. A number of common 

 British genera — Hypericum, Stellaria, Cardamine, Drosera, Cap- 

 sella, &c. — are represented in Victoria, but mainly or entirely by 

 distinct Australian species. A few cosmopolitans — Spergularia 

 rubra, Sagina procumhens, Myosurus minijuus, Potentllla 

 anserina, Oxalis coroiiculata, Portulaca oleracea, Polygonum 

 hydropiper, Lemna minor, Potartiogeton, &c. — are, however, 

 natives of Victoria, and they, with others, form a connecting 

 link with the world's flora. Thus Prunella vulgaris, L., the 

 " Self-Heal," and Solamim nigrum, the " Black Nightshade," are 

 common English weeds, while native species of Sida, Hibiscus, 

 Anagallis, Heliotropium, Cyperus, &c., also occur in Asia, Africa, 

 and America. Such non-European plants as Parietaria debilis, 

 Dodonoia viscosa, Avicennia ojficinalis, and Tetragonia expansa 

 are especially interesting, since they connect our flora with that 

 of the old and new worlds on the one hand and with that of 

 New Zealand on the other. 



The dominant general features of the Victorian flora are deter- 

 mined by the necessity of protection against periodic drought and 

 intense sunlight. The latter affects, of course, exposed plants 

 only, and is shown by the common presence of vertical leaves or 

 phyllodia on so many of our forest trees, with the result that they 

 yield relatively little shade, and at the same time transpire less 

 actively than if horizontally expanded. 



