PAST, PRESENT, AND PUTUEE OP THE AUSTRALIAN PLOEA. 143 



Australian colonies, though chiefly limited to the plants of each 

 dominion. Endless studies, worrying perplexities, great expenses 

 and invaluable loss of time have been saved in all these southern 

 colonies by the vast extent of namings of specimens for the 

 public and private collections, representing an amount of endless 

 patient toil and application of knowledge, a boon the lastinginfluence 

 of which does not impress itself readily on all tlie w^orkers, who 

 thus had cleared their paths and had guiding marks in all directions ; 

 and yet the facility and safeguard cheerfully and disinterestedly 

 offered have hardly ever yet in a single instance throughout tliese 

 colonies been recognized by a woi'd of public appreciation of those 

 whose researches — while woi"kiDg with the aid of safely-named 

 collections — became so very much easier, or when later botanists 

 were thereby started on their career. 



Substantial gratitude would never have been expected nor 

 accepted, but a thankful thought about the originator of the 

 great Melbourne Herbarium is hoped for even in far futurity. 

 Since the death of my revered friend has appeared in Pro- 

 fessor Leveille's Le Monde des Plantes, at Le Mans, a computa- 

 tion of the plants known up to 1892 ; this therefore bi-ings the 

 numbers and the notes connected therewith three years fui'ther 

 than those of the second Census of Australian Plants from which 

 Dr. WooUs quoted. 



Where still uncertainties remained to be cleared up after local 

 researches, the doubts were removed mainly by Bentham in the 

 course of his issue of the Flora Aristr alien sis. 



Subjoined are the final results : 



Statistics of Australian indigenous plants, so far as known up to 

 the end of 1892 :— 



Total number of Orders of Vasculares . . , . 156 

 ,, ,, Genera ,, . . . . 1424 

 ,, ,, Species ,, . . . . 9021 

 Of these species occur in extratropic West Aus- 

 tralia 3660 



„ ,, extratropic South Aus- 

 tralia 19G9 



„ ,, Tasmania . . . . . . lOol 



„ „ Victoria 1949 



„ „ Js^ew South Wales . . 3356 



,, ,, Queensland . . . . 3873 



North Australia . . . . 2037 

 Admitted in the Flora Australiensis indigenous 



species (after some reductions). .. .. 7814 

 Additions recorded in tliese preliminary 



statistics. , . ■. . . . . . . . . 1207 



