215 



ILES STERILES. 



I am indebted to Dr. L. Diets for the following note : — 



As suggested by your remark on p. 117, Part IV, I avail myself of the opportunity to set forth my 

 views about the locality " lies Steriles " recorded by Baudin's Expedition. Having gone through several 

 of the old original books, I am satisfied (with you) that this name has never been used in published 

 literature. At the same time, there is no doubt to me that it is a translation of the Dutch "Dorre Eylandt" 

 (barren island), and means, in a broader sense, those three islands called nowadays Dirk Hartog Island, 

 Dorre' Island, and especially Bernier Island, in Shark's Bay. These islands, being discovered by Dirk 

 Hartog in 1616, were more thoroughly explored, for the first time, by the expedition of Baudin. They are 

 fully described in Perron's and L. de Freycinet's report of this voyage (" Voyage de decouvertes aux Terres 

 Australes," Paris). There is a quite detailed paragraph on their vegetation in this book. It is safe to 

 suppose that several species have been collected on Bernier Island. I think the species labelled "lies 

 Steriles " came from there ; for all of them we are aware of belong to the flora of sandy dunes on limestone 

 formation, just as it is met with on these islands ; for instance, Eucalyptus fmcwnda, which was collected 

 again near Shark's Bay by Milne (v. p. 115 of your Revision) ; further Beyeria cycmescens, Bth. (AYor. Aust 

 vi, 66), this plant has been collected again or Dirk Hartog's Island by Naumaun (in Herb. Berlin) ; and 

 even more deciding, Scholtzia leptaniha, Benth. We have this plant from "lies Steriles" in Herb. Berlin, 

 communicated by the Paris Museum, as to herb. R. Brown (vide Bth. F. Aust., iii, 70). Now the same 

 species was collected near Shark's Bay by Milne, on Dirk Hartog's Island by Naumann, on dunes near 

 Carnarvon by myself. The whole evidence leads me to the conclusion that " lies Steriles " are those (really 

 exceedingly barren) islands in Shark's Bay. The, name, then, is an extension of the old Dutch " Done 

 Eylandt," which meant only one of them. That this informal, rather provisional naming has been retained 

 on the labels, while the official report has only the valid names (He Dirk Hartog, He Dorre, He de 

 Bernier), is not surprising when one considers how very little care was taken about correct labelling by 

 the old botanists. s 



Explanation of Plates (69-72). 

 PLATE 69. 



E. oleosa, F.v.M., var. Flocktoni, Maiden. 



la, 16. Mature leaves; lc, buds; Id, \e, fruits of the type. Desmond, near Ravensthorpe, Western 



Australia. (J.H.M.) 

 2a. Mature leaf ; 26, bud and flowers ; 2<-, anthers ; 'id, fruits from co-type. Esperance, Western 



Australia. (L. L. Cowen.) 

 3a. Mature leaf; .36, fruits much less corrugated than those of the type. Murchison River, Western 



Australia. (Oldfield.) 

 4a. Fruit, smaller in size and less corrugated ; 46, anther. Cowcowing, Western Australia. (Max Koch.) 

 Figures 3 and 4 are connectimg links between E. oleosa and var. Flocktoni, and form part of the evidence 



that the latter form, dissimilar as it looks at first sight, cannot be given specific rank. 



E. Souefii, n. sp. 



ha. Juvenile leaf ; 56, intermediate leaf ; 5c, mature leaf. Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. (J.H.M.) 

 6a, 66. Buds ; 6c, 6'/, fruits. Nearly 70 miles north of Kurrawang, Western Australi (J.H.M.) 

 7. Anther, from a tree near Kurrawang. (J.H.M.) 



E. Clelandi, n. sp. 



8a. Juvenile leaf; 86, intermediate leaf; 8c, mature leaf; 8c?, buds, <s, »./uits of the type. Goongarrie, 

 Western Australia. (J.H.M.' 



