HIS work needs hardly to be introduced by prefatory observations to the notice of professed 
naturalists, who will recognise its scope and object at a glance. To those however, who may be 
less conversant in phytographic science, and who may use these pages, some explanatory preface 
would be needful, in order that they may fully understand the views, which guided the author 
through the details of this enumerative essay on Australian indigenous plants. Again, to all recipients 
it may be of some interest, to be informed of the causes, which gave rise to the present literary issue. 
Of the seven volumes of the “Flora Australiensis,” elaborated by Mr. Bentham, mainly through the 
aid of the Botanic Departments of Kew and Melbourne, the earlier ones were written at a time, 
when a large portion of Australia remained yet untraversed by any explorers. Since then the 
territorial occupation as a whole has become nearly doubled, while new lines of geographic research 
have opened up vast additional tracts of lands for future settlements. Thus, the Flora of our island- 
continent became also more revealed, with the result of about 850 species of vascular plants having 
been added already to those described in the “Flora Australiensis”’; but, irrespective of this, we have 
learned in later years much more concerning the regional distribution of the species formerly recorded. 
All these additional data, accumulated gradually during the last two decennia, though mainly kept 
together in the volumes of the “Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae,” became necessarily much 
disconnected and dispersed during the progress of discoveries and the early records connected 
therewith, so much so, that much difficulty was experienced of late, to command a clear and easy 
view over these scattered literary fragments. To collect and rearrange them into one or more 
volumes, conformous with those of the “Flora Australiensis,” and supplementary to that work, proved 
beyond the range of operations of the venerable savant, who spent much of his precious time during 
fully sixteen years for grandly systematising throughout the native vegetation of these great parts 
of the British Dominions,—because his unrivalled experience and scientitic valour were called more 
pressingly into channels of research, by which not only the realm of plants of Australia, but indeed 
that of the whole globe, became drawn both comprehensively and connectedly into the cycle of his 
observations. Perhaps it may fall yet to the share of the writer of the present pages, to furnish 
supplements to the “Flora Australiensis’; indeed, he has it under contemplation, to add one 
volume, solely to be devoted to a descriptive enumeration of all the additional species, and to be 
arranged in consonance with Bentham’s views, whereas another volume would be rendered exclusively 
the vehicle of record of all new localities, from whence any species of the “Flora Australiensis” were 
obtained, when perhaps also such alterations, as largely augmented material may suggest, could be 
made to the descriptive text. But to complete the “Flora” in this manner, so far as our present state 
of knowledge will admit of it, would involve the thorough revision of the whole vast collections 
now stored in our local Botanical Museum; therefore, the connected re-examination of at least 80,000 
specimens, from which the pages of the “Flora” largely, and those of the “Fragmenta” solely, have 
emanated. Such a task, to be performed with conscientious care, would need continued and close 
application throughout several years. Under these circumstances it seemed best, to pave the wa 
for subsequent purposes through the issue of a preliminary publication, by which anyhow the use 
of both works, above referred to, would be facilitated. A postponement of the work for supplement- 
ary volumes, thus arising, would bring with it one advantage also, that of gaining time for carrying 
the augmentation of the Flora still further, as we would meanwhile profit from phytologic searches 
of travellers and settlers in wide regions of Australia, as yet in reference to vegetation but scantily 
investigated or altogether unexplored. 
By deferring therefore the elaboration of supplemental volumes, we could aim more at future exhaus- 
tiveness, whereas the work as left by its illustrious author will meet mainly all present wants, and 
must remain the foundation for all future systematic study of the vegetation peculiar to this part of the 
globe. In offermg now a separate statistic volume, the writer has availed himself of the opportunity, 
to place on record independently his views on preferable systematic sequences of orders, wherever oc- 
casionally his opinions differed from those enunciated by other phytographers. He furthermore could draw 
the limits of some genera and many species in accordance with original observations of his own; besides 
he was able to apply more rigorously the rules for systematic naming in strict application of chronologic 
data. Butto avoid misapprehensions, the author at the very outset endeavours to anticipate objections, which 
may perhaps be raised against some portion of the nomenclature adopted in these pages. If, for instance 
Haller is regarded as the earliest indicator of Cyperaceae, it must be conceded, that his wording of the 
order was “Cyperi” in 1742, as well shown in Pfeiffer’s extensive work. If however in accordance 
with the more exact limitation of this ordinal group of plants we ascribe it under the name of 
