If6 POittiST CtJLWRE AND 



those of the cooler zone, and even the otherwise al- 

 most universal Senecios, are generally absent. Cype- 

 rus vaginatus, perhaps the best of all textile rushes, 

 ranges from the remotest south to these northern re- 

 gions. Hibiscus tiliaceus, with other malvaceous 

 plants, is here chosen by the natives for the fibre of 

 their fishing-nets and cordage. An occasional inter- 

 spersion of the dazzling Erythrina vespertilio, of 

 Bauhinia Leichardti, Erythrophlseum Laboucheri, 

 Livistonia Palms, and many Terminalise, some with 

 edible fruits, Cochlospermum Gregorii, C. heterone- 

 mum, remind, however, of the flora of tropical lati- 

 tudes, which, moreover, to the eye of an experienced 

 observer, is revealed also in a multitude of smaller 

 plants, either identical with South Asiatic species or 

 representing in peculiar forms tropical genera. The 

 identity of about six hundred Asiatic plants (some 

 cosmopolitan) with native Australian species, has been 

 placed beyond doubt, and to this series of absolutely 

 identical forms, as well derived from the jungle as 

 from grounds free of forest, unquestionably several 

 hundred will yet be added. 



Melaleuca leucadendron, the Cajeput-tree of India, 

 is among Indo- Australian trees one of the most uni- 

 versal ; it extends, as one of the largest timber-trees 

 of north Australia, along many of its rivers, and in 

 diminutive size over the dry sand-stone table-lands. 

 The Asiatic and Pacific Casuarina equisetifolia accom- 

 panies it often in the vicinity of the coast. By far 

 the most remarkable form in the vegetation of north- 

 west Australia is the Gouty - stem - tree (Adansonia 

 Gregorii) ; but it is restricted to a limited tract of 

 coast-country. It assumes precisely the bulky form 



