IX 



such information for their elucidation as I could glean from 

 Brown's Prodromus, Lindley's descriptions in Mitchell's works, 

 Dr. Mueller's Fragmenta, and his other valuable publications, and 

 lastly, the three volumes of the Flora Australiensis already pub- 

 lished. I have felt some hesitation in associating the papers on 

 Sea-weeds and Lichens with the rest of those selected, because I 

 am sensible that it requires much more leisure than I could com- 

 mand, to enter satisfactorily upon the consideration of cryptogamic 

 specimens, which need not merely long continued observation, but 

 also microscopic research. For the further study of these in- 

 teresting branches of botany, I must refer my readers to Harvey's 

 Phycologia Australica, and Lindsay's elaborate papers, in the hope 

 that some of our youthful Australians may be induced to devote 

 themselves to the study of those subjects, connected with the 

 Vegetable Kingdom in Australia, which as yet have not been 

 adequately explored. The Mosses, Lichens, and Fungi, of 

 Australia, though probably the vast majority of them may be 

 cosmopolitan, have never received the attention which is necessary 

 for attaining a correct estimate of their numbers, or for determin- 

 ing what species differ materially from those of the Northern 

 Hemisphere. Some time since, I attempted to furnish a list of 

 the mosses found in the Parramatta District, and was surprised 

 to find that the species amounted to nearly fifty. In some sea- 

 sons when the weather is damp, a great many may be collected, 

 and even in the driest time, there are always some to be found 

 on the banks of the creeks, although in parts of tropical Australia 

 they do not exist at all. Fungi also are very [numerous, under 

 circumstances favourable for their development, but with the ex- 

 ception of Aseroe and Mi/litta, the ordinary forms of Agaricus, 

 Polyporus, Boletus, etc., appear similar to the European ones. 

 However, the Mosses, Lichens, and Fungi, afford a wide field for 

 investigation, and I feel sorry that my engagements have pre- 

 vented me from going so deeply into the study of them as I could 

 wish. My only motive, therefore, in inserting my papers on Sea- 

 weeds and Lichens, is the hope that the hints which I have thrown 

 out respecting those orders may be useful to any persons com- 

 mencing the study of our cryptogamic botany. The concluding 

 article on the genus Eucalyptus was drawn up at the suggestion 

 of Dr. F. Mueller, and although I am aware of its numerous im- 



