26 



THE LICHENS OF QUEENSLAND. 



Ey F. M. Bailey, F.L.S., witli an Litroduction by the 



Eev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, F.G.S., F.L.S. 



[_Bead 9th August, 1880.] 



INTRODUCTION. 



The Lichens of Australia, have not received much attention 

 from "botanists, either in Europe or here. New Zealand has 

 had its Lichen flora examined by many of the most experienced 

 specialists. Tasmania also has had nearly the same advan- 

 tages. Li Australia no special essay has ever been devoted 

 to the subject. A complete Lichen flora for the whole 

 continent is what we would not expect. It would be 

 unreasonable even to look for this for one of the colonies ; 

 but it is a matter of surprise that no one as yet has tried to 

 determine and catalogue the ordinary species. What Robert 

 Brown did was to catalogue those he found on the coast, and 

 those obtained in the few hurried journeys into the interior, 

 which were made by himself and others in his time. What 

 he obtained caused him to conclude that two-thirds of the 

 Lichens of Australia were identical with European s^^ecies. 

 No other essay aj^pears to have been written on the subject 

 imtil it was apj^roached by Dr. Woolls, who, in 1867, pub- 

 lished a little work on the Flora of Australia. This 

 contained a series of essays on the botany of our continent, 

 written in a popular style, and with a view to convey only 

 popular information on the subject. Amongst the essays 

 there is one on Lichens. In this there is the determination 

 of a few species belonging to 13 genera, all growing in the 

 neighbourhood of Parramatta. In the Annual Report of the 

 Botanical Garden of Melbourne for 1868, there is a list of 

 species collected by Baron von Mueller up to that period. 

 I learn also from Dr. Woolls' essay that in the Journal of 

 Botany, published at Halle in 1856, as a part of the Plantce 

 Muelleriance, or plants collected in Victoria by Baron v. 

 Mueller, that eleven more species had been added to the 

 Australian flora, principally belonging to the genera Claclonia, 

 Parmelia, and Sticta. 



From these small materials it would be impossible to con- 

 clude anything with regard to the specialities of our flora. 

 It is true that any very special features we might not expect. 

 Lichens are too cosmopolitan, or widespread, to admit of any 

 country having features in this department peculiarly its 

 own. We cannot anticipate that the marked insular 

 characters of our Australian i^licenocjams will be continued 

 amongst the Lichens ; yet some Australian characteristics 

 we might look for. What has resulted from the examination 



