viii Preface. 



the discrimination of them for varieties or otherwise to more 

 extended studies in the field here and also in other parts of 

 Australia: The separating of varieties of any species were beyond 

 the scope of the present pages. Literary quotations and synonymy 

 are also excluded from this work. In any future impression some 

 of the characteristics, adopted as specific, could likely with 

 advantage be transferred to generic notes ; so also some primary 

 notes in the dichotomy may hereafter become subsidiary or 

 affirmative and vice versa. 



It would be advisable, that whoever may use methodically this 

 book, should provide a blank volume, correspondingly paged, for 

 entries on soil, stature, measurements, regional elevation, odor, 

 color, locality and copiousness or scarcity of any plant, with a 

 view of subsequently "comparing notes," for instance on flowering 

 time, phaenologic data, as aiding meterologic observations, having 

 in late years become quite a science-branch in Phytology by itself. 

 Be it remembered, however, that identical plants are flowering 

 nearly three months later in our Alps than in the north-western 

 lowlands ; some practical application to this particular subject has 

 been recently given in the seventh edition of the " select plants for 

 industrial culture and naturalisation." Thus also what may be 

 frequent in one locality may be rare in another. Which regions 

 still need closer investigation for their floral treasures, and what 

 number of additional species may still be expected as gatherable 

 within our territory, has been noted in a late number of the 

 " Field-Naturalist." Our knowledge requires also yet to be per- 

 fected in reference to the permanency of some of the characteristics, 

 .assigned to species of such genera of much complicated forms, as 

 Rhagodia, Atriplex, Swainsona, Leptospermum, Pultenaea, Stack- 

 housia, Opercularia, Epacris, Euphrasia, Prasophyllum, Pterostylis, 

 Xerotes, Scirpus, Lepyrodia, Stipa, Danthonia, Agrostis, Lepi- 

 dosperma, because here in a comparatively young colony the 

 whole cyclus of forms, within which species range, particularly in 

 climatic regions so extensively varied as ours, is not in all cases yet 



