CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PHYTOGRAPHY OF 

 TASMANIA. 



[By Fred, BIueller, M.D., F.R.S,! 



This brief allusion to some plants, either unrecorded from 

 Tasmania or rare in its territory, refers to contributions gained 

 from various sources. Robert Brown's great treasures fur- 

 nished some of the data, as will be evident on reference to the 

 universal work on Australian Vegetation, issued by the Pre- 

 sident of the Linnean Society. Others of the plants were 

 kindly transmitted by Mr. J. Bennett from the British 

 Museum, and gathered by Dr. Jos. Milligan. Some were 

 detected by Mr. Aug. Oldfield, and remained unnoticed in the 

 supplemental contribution, which it fell to my share to furnish 

 for the " Flora Tasmanise." A few again were added by Mr. 

 Walt. Bissell, in a recent voyage to the North-east Coast ; 

 while I was agreeably surprised to receive from the venerable 

 Dr. Gr. Story an extensive set of Museum-plants, secured in the 

 Oyster Bay district. From a letter of this gentleman I sub- 

 mit introductorily the following physiographic remarks, which 

 claim in many respects originality : — 



This district is a tract of waste, extending from Cape 

 Bernier on the south to Doctor's Creek, or Seymour Coal. 

 Mines, on the north ; it was formerly known as the District of 

 Oyster Bay, as that bay occupies a considerable portion of the 

 coast-line. At present the south part is in the County of 

 Pembroke, and the other part forms the County of Glamorgan, 

 forming together a coast-line of 80 miles. A strip of land for 

 cultivation extends along the coast, and is backed by tiers of 

 hills that extend westward to the midland districts of the 

 island. The tiers are formed chiefly of basalt (greenstone), 

 in some cases sand stone and the coal formation appears, but 

 the latter is only met with on the coast-line. The Schouten 

 Island and Freycinet's Peninsula have a strip of porphyritic 

 granite on the eastern side, which granite extends to Bicheno. 

 Sandy swamps, replete with plants, occur at intervals aloug 

 the coast-line, and sandy swamps occur also in the granite for- 

 mation, but with a different Flora. 



Oyster Bay is from 20 to 30 miles in length, and about 15 

 miles broad. Maria Island lies at its mouth ; the Schouten 

 Island a.nd Freycinet's Peninsula form the eastern side ; 

 Swansea is at the head of the western side of the bay and 

 Kelvedon (where Ireside) is six miles south of Swansea. The 

 rivers beginning generally south are Sandspit, Prosser's, 

 Little Swanport (which forms a large pond or lagoon [)rcvious 



