232 A. G. HAMILTON. 
to my surprise not a single plant was to be found, nor has there 
been one since. 
Mr. T. Kirk, in a paper on the naturalised plants of Port 
Nicholson, N.Z., says:—“ At length a turning point is reached, 
the invaders lose a portion of their vigour, and become less encroach- 
ing, while the indigenous plants find the struggle less severe and 
gradually recover a portion of their lost ground, the result being 
the gradual amalgamation of those kinds best adapted to hold 
their own in the struggle for existence with the introduced forms, 
and the restriction of those less favourably adapted to habitats 
which afford them special advantages.”* And Mr. T. F. Cheese- 
man, from whose paper on the “ Naturalised plants of the Auck- 
land District” I have quoted the above, coincides with this opinion 
to some extent and says, “Speaking generally I am inclined to 
believe that the struggle between the naturalised and the native 
floras will result in a limitation of the range of the native species 
rather than in their actual extermination. We must be prepared 
to see many plants once common become comparatively rare, and 
possibly a limited number—TI should not estimate it at more than 
a score or two—may altogether disappear, to be only known to 
us in the future by the dried specimens in our museums.”+ If 
this is likely to be the case in a territory so limited as New Zealand 
how much more is it probable in Australia with the vast extent 
of area, diversified surface, and various climates from tropical to 
cold temperate. 
append a list of plants alien to Australia collected by myself, 
or named as occurring in the various Colonies by the authorities 
mentioned :—Queensland: Mr. F. M. Bailey ; New South Wales: 
Mr. C. Moore, Rev. Dr. Woolls, Mr. F. Turner, Mr. E. Betche ; 
Victoria: Baron Ferd. von Mueller; South Australia: the late 
Dr. Schomburgk ; Tasmania: the late Rev. W. Spicer. There is 
as yet no list published for West Australia, and the few in my 
* Trans. N. Z. Inst., Vol. x., p. 363. 
+ Paper read before Auckland Institute, November 1882. 
