[xxvii] 



numbers to all the material [forming the Brown bequest], and a full 

 list of these is in the botanical library of the British Museum (Natural 

 History) in South Kensington. Unfortunately these numbers were re- 

 lated to the names of species in the "Prodromus" rather than to indi- 

 vidual specimens. Consequently there are cases in which the same 

 number has been applied to specimens from different localities and it 

 will be necessary to select lectotypes in such instances. For example, 

 in the Herbarium of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, there are two 

 Brown specimens of Atriplex semibaccata under the same Bennett 

 number, though one is from "Port Jackson" and the other from a lo- 

 cality on the Queensland coast.' (Burbidge, 1956: 229). 



From the above it will be evident that, excluding the specimens lost 

 in the wreck of the Porpoise, there existed of most of Brown's gatherings 

 several specimens, one being the small specimen which he kept apart 

 for study during the voyage, the others being those which were stored 

 in casks. These have subsequently been mounted together at the British 

 Museum without distinction and it may be difficult to determine the 

 history of a particular specimen, i. e. whether it formed part of Brown's 

 study set or the main set. How far Brown got in selecting specimens 

 for the public collection (see p. xxvi) is uncertain: lack of public interest 

 in his Prodromus may well have led him to stop work and leave both 

 uncompleted at the same time. The specimen chosen for the public 

 collection seems to be the best one available, mounted on bluish paper 

 and inscribed on the back of the sheet at the top with a note as to its 

 provenance and collector, e. g. 'Nova Hollandia, Port Jackson, 

 Mr. Brown'. These sheets may be of special value for typification. They 

 lack the numbers mentioned above which Bennett added to the speci- 

 mens from the Brown bequest. Some such specimens have been 

 presented to other institutions, with a printed blue label 'Ex Herbaria 

 Musei Britannici', having been regarded in the past simply as dupli- 

 cates of the smaller and more numerous specimens from Brown's pri- 

 vate herbarium acquired through the Bennett bequest which are now 

 mounted, often several different gatherings together, on sheets bearing 

 the printed blue label headed 'R. Brown, Iter Australiense, 1802 — 5 

 [Presented by direction of J. J. Bennett, 1876.] No.' All are authentic 

 specimens (syntypes); as Brown re-examined his material before pu- 

 blishing the Prodromus it seems wise to select as the lectotype of a 

 BROWNian species the most complete individual specimen in the British 



