PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 29 



Mountain Region. — The Mountain Region with a rain- 

 fall ranging from about 20-60 inches annually and an 

 average of about 34 inches, contains generally the softest 

 Eucalyptus timbers. It is in this area that we should look 

 for the greatest divergence from original types especially 

 in the vegetative shoot, for it is here that during the pro- 

 cess of the uplift and subsequently, that the most severe 

 changes were encountered, and the greatest demand would 

 be made upon the plants to adapt themselves to their 

 environment. Much of the Mountain Region ranges from 

 3,000-4,000 feet above sea level, the culminating point on 

 Mount Kosciusko being 7,328 feet in latitude 36J°. So far, 

 however, no Eucalypt has been able to adapt itself to the 

 cold exposed conditions of this latter altitude, the greatest 

 elevation reached by E. coriacea being about 800 feet 

 short of the summit. 



Western Slopes. — The Western Slopes division contains 

 a flora which forms a sort of connecting link between that 

 of the Mountain Region and the Interior. In New South 

 Wales, except in the extreme south, the western side of 

 the mountains is not so steep as that of the eastern face, 

 but falls gradually away in long slopes forming a zone 

 paralleling the Main Divide, and into the upper edge of 

 which certain mountain plants descend, while the lower 

 margin, where it joins the great plains, is the home of some 

 of the Interior vegetation. There are certain species how- 

 ever, such as Eucalyptus albens, that are typical of this 

 zone, which in New South Wales has an annual rainfall of 

 about 26 - 27 inches. 



The Interior. — In the Interior the conditions are dry, 

 the rainfall ranging from about 10-20 inches annually, the 

 average amount being 13 - 14 inches. From investigation 

 of the Tertiary fauna of parts of this area, as shown by 

 fossil remains, the rainfall and moisture over this division 



