136 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. XXV. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



THE SPECIFIC NAME OF THE INTRODUCED 



ROMULEA. 



To the Editor of the Victorian Naturalist. 

 Sir, — I have much pleasure in forwarding for your perusal a 

 copy of the latest Kev) Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information, in 

 which there is a note upon " Rornulea as a Pest in Australia." 

 In this journal for January and February, 1908 (xxiv., 138, 154) 

 the question was raised as to the correct scientific name of the 

 so-called " Onion Weed," and a letter of inquiry sent to Kew by 

 Mr. Jas. Tovey was the immediate cause of the subject being 

 referred to in the Bulletin. It may be regarded as settled, as far 

 as the comparison of authentic specimens and the details of leaf- 

 sections can make it, that the Australian introduced plant is 

 Rornulea bulbocoditim, Seb. and Maur., as originally determined 

 by the late Baron von Mueller. R. rosea, Eckl., is regarded as a 

 synonym, and in referring to these two species the writer 

 remarks : — " The leaf-sections of these two species and of the 

 Australian plant are identical, and show the leaf to be twice as 

 broad as thick, while the outline of the leaf is linear, and quite 

 unlike that of R. cruciata, Eckl." 



The Field Naturalists' Club is specially concerned with the 

 fauna and flora and with the correct determination of both 

 indigenous and introduced forms. While it seeks to popularize 

 the study of natural history by means of expressive common 

 names, it has always aimed at scientific accuracy, for, as it was 

 happily expressed in the presidential address for 1907 (Vict. Nat., 

 xxiv., 49), " in a new country, until your objects have been 

 collected in fairly large numbers and dealt with from a systematic 

 point of view, it is difficult to see on what lines to investigate the 

 steps in their individual life -histories." — I am, yours, &c., 



D. M'ALPINE. 

 Pathologist's Branch, Department of Agriculture. 

 Melbourne, 26th November, 1908. 



[Among the remarks in the Kew Bulletin in connection with 

 this subject it is stated that in Western Australia the plant is 

 known as " Guildford Grass " ; also that while the leaves are 

 indigestible and have been known to cause the death of animals, 

 the corms, on the contrary, are highly nutritious, and have been 

 found to contain 75.3 per cent, of starch in the dry substance — 

 a greater percentage than in the potato ! — Ed. Vict. Nat.'\ 



The next meeting of the Australasian Association for the 

 Advancement of Science will be held in Brisbane in January, 

 1909. Intending members should communicate with the hon. 

 secretary for A'^ictoria, Dr. T. S. Hall, University. 



