20 THK VICTOIUAT^f NATUKALTST 



flowering specimens. No other Victorian Ranunculus lias the 

 leaves so much divided, the segments being as fine as silk threads. 

 The plant is submerged. 



The rivulet Buttercup, (R. rivnlaris), has coarser divisions of the 

 leaves and yellow flowers. It is of frequent occurrence on wet, 

 sedgy, especially clayey flats, on the margins of streams and lakes, 

 and the beds of sluggish streams, such as the Wimmera. 



R. hirtus may be confused with R. lappaceus, but differs in its 

 reflexed and not appressed sepals. It is much rarer. R. parviflorus 

 varies greatly according to the soil in which it grows : the fruitlets 

 are rough. 



" In order to see the other four Victorian species in their native 

 •haunts, the reader must accompany me in imagination to the 

 Australian Alps. At an elevation of 6,600 feet on Mount 

 Kosciiisko, (N.y.W.), large patches of the charming R. anemoneus 

 abound, the whiteness of its flowers vying in purity of tint with the 

 broad slieets of snow lying on the adjacent slopes of the mountain. 

 It is the white flowers and large stem leaves of this queen of 

 Victorian Ranunculi which give to the plant its anemone-like aspect. 



Ascending still higher, (7,000 feet), we notice two other species 

 resembling each other in habit and general appearance. One, R. 

 Gunnianus, has repeatedly divided radical leaves, five or more 

 petals tinged with a purplish hue on the outside, and yellow on the 

 upper surface, and with three gland-grooves which have no scales. 

 Its smooth carpels terminate in almost straight style. The other, 

 R. Muelleri, differs in its entire or few-toothed leaves and yellow 

 flowers. Both flourish, side by side, on grassy depressions, irrigated 

 by melting snow. 



Still higher, (7,400), on a gentle grassy slope, at the foot of an 

 immense mass of half-frozen snow, we observe numerous, mostly 

 rectangular spaces, which present the apjjearance of having been 

 dug out with considerable regularity to a depth of 9 and 12 inches. 

 In these depressions, which are almost destitute of any other 

 vegetation, we find the little white-flowered R. Millani. The whole 

 plant, root, leaves and flower does not exceed one inch and a quarter 

 in height. The short peduncle is soft, haiiy, and bears a solitary 

 white flower, with five-ten petals, having one gland-groove without 

 a scale. The leaves have a few narrow segments. Mr. Angus 

 McMillan, the discoverer of Gippsland, deserved to have his name 

 identified with one of our Alpine plants, for he must have had rough 

 times while crossing these apparently limitless mountain ranges. But 

 how will future generations recognise his Scotcli origin in the word 

 MiUani ? 



Another hundred feet and we are at the summit of the huge 

 glacier, (if I am permitted to use the term for a stationary mass of 

 snow.) Here, in the bed of a tiny brooklet, we find several patches 

 of tufted small plants with glossy leaves and snow-white flowers. 



