THE VIGTOKIAN NATURALIST. 49 



may have originated with superstitious people that the trees were 

 bewitched in order that the witches might be provided with 

 brooms for their midnight rides, hence the name. There are two 

 rusts known to cause this in Australia — viz., Vromycladium 

 tep2Jerianum and Cronartium jacksonice — and the effect produced 

 by them in deforming the shoots is well shown in the specimens 

 exhibited. 



Indigenous and Introduced Species. — It is not always easy to 

 settle whether a plant is native or introduced, for in the early 

 days of colonization no doubt numerous seeds were accidentally 

 imported, and the conditions were so favourable to them that 

 they multiplied and spread, and became a feature of the vegeta- 

 tion. Thanks chiefly to the labours of the late Baron von 

 Mueller, we are able for the most part to distinguish between the 

 indigenous or native and introduced plants, but even he has 

 sometimes to note " probably immigrated," as in the case of 

 Panicum sanguinale, Setaria glauca, Alopecurus geniculatus, 

 Juncus bu/onius, Veronica peregrina, Anagallis centunculus, and 

 Solanum nigrum in our Victorian flora. It is highly desirable 

 that the list of plants introduced into Victoria should be kept up 

 to date. I see that a work has just been issued on the "Alien 

 Flora of Great Britain," and it is just as necessary to have a 

 record of the " aliens " of Australia. 



Just as plants may have been imported with the rust upon them, 

 and then spread to native species, or vice versd, so there is the 

 same difficulty here in settling whether the rust has been intro- 

 duced. In some cases there is no difficulty, as in Puccinia 

 beckmannice, M'Alp., where the rust was found on grass grown 

 from seed sent direct to me by the United States Department of 

 Agriculture for trial. But in the case of the rust on native celery, 

 also on cultivated celery, and on native mint, as well as on 

 cultivated mint, there is room for difference of opinion. I have 

 given a list of the species of rust probably introduced, and some 

 of the more noticeable importations may just be briefly referred 

 to here. 



The Mallow Rust, Puccinia inalvacearum, is indigenous to 

 Chili, where it was first described in 1852, and since then it has 

 practically spread to all quarters of the globe. Its first record 

 outside of South America is for Australia, and Dr. Plowright 

 states that he has a specimen in his herbarium from Melbourne, 

 gathered as early as 1865 on Malva sylvestris. Mr. French, 

 Government Entomologist, also assures me that he has seen this 

 rust on hollyhocks in a nursery near Melbourne as early as 1857. 



Chrysanthemum Rust, Puccinia chrysanthemi Roze, has 

 been sent to me from New South Wales, in April, 1904, and may 

 have reached Australia either from Europe or Japan. It is 

 strange that this rust has not yet found its way into Victoria, 



