4-1: THE VlCTiiRIAX XATCRALIST. 



The opposite leaves prove the plfliit to be a clematig . For the 

 particular species we are referred to 514 : — 



olt. Stem herbaceous, erect, itc. C. Gentianoides 1 

 ,, Stem woody, climb'ng, (fcc. 515. 



One more step is needful, for our specimen is a woody climber : — 



515. Anthers Avith along point, kc. C. aristata. 2. 

 „ Anthers short, normal, kc. C. microphylla 3. 



Tlie authors have long narroAv points ; consecpiently the plant is 

 clematis aristata. If the reader wishes to know something more 

 about his specimen he will turn to iNo. 2 in the ' Systematic 

 Arrangements.' There he will find what is its true place among 

 the i^lants of Tasmania, and also from whom it received the name 

 it bears, viz., the illustrious Robert Brown . For a full description 

 he is referred to BentJiams Flora Australiensis, Vol. 1. p. G ; 

 and to Hooker s Flora of Tasmania, Vol. 1, p. 2 (where it is 

 described as C. coriacea), and p. 3 (as C. blanda). Lastly, he is 

 informed that the species grows abundantly throughout the island." 

 Now, why has not such a book been written, if not for Australia 

 generally, at any rate for our colony ? It is hard to say. "With 

 the magnificent work by Bentham an.d Sir Ferdinand von ^Mueller . 

 and with the elalwrate Census recently published by the latter, the 

 work of complication should be easy. In these days of proposed 

 federation, it would not be too much to ask each colony to con- 

 tribiite to the publication of a book which woidd be of iumiense 

 value to all. The Avork might be placed under the superintendence 

 of the Baron, assisted by a competent staff, and I believe that tlie 

 several Governments Avould find that the sale would more than 

 recoup the expense. Such a work, however, if compiled, should be 

 sold at as cheap a price as possible, so as to be within the reach of 

 almost everyone interested in botany. Whilst in Tasmania last 

 January I heard from two different sources tliat a wliite Avaratah 

 had been seen on the Avestern coast, both at its north and south 

 ends. Hoping to be able to distinguish my year of office by pro- 

 ducing it here this evening, I called upon the Surveyor-General at 

 Hobart, and asked him if he Avould permit his surveyors to offer on 

 my behalf a rcAvard of £5 for a flowering brancli. I regret to say 

 that I have not been successful, nor do I believe that such a plant 

 could have remained so long undescribed if it existed at all. The 

 SiBweyor-General told me that on one occasion a specimen of the 

 native laurel ( Anoi )terus ojandulosus ^ had been brought to him as a 

 wliite AvarataJi — a strange proceeding, as one can hardly understand 

 lioAv it ^Avas })0ssible to mistake the lat^-, AAdiich is a saxifrage , for 

 the former, Avhich is a protead. It seems more likely that someone 

 with a few liazy ideas of botany mistook the A vhite protead, Lomatia 

 tinctoria, for a AAdiite species of Telo]iea. In conclusion, I Avould 

 allude to tlie unanimous regret that Ave feel at the lengthened in- 

 disposition of the Baron vcm Mueller, and express the hope that he 

 may soon be restored to his health and his labours. 



