Australian Plants, 



5 



Art. II. Definitions of rare or hitherto undescribed Australian 

 Plants, chiefly collected within the Boundaries of the Colonp 

 of Victoria, and examined by Dr, Ferd. Mueller, 



IF I ventoe to lay before the Philosophical Society a series 

 of descriptions, by which a number of plants, but im- 

 perfectly known or entirely new to science, are briefly 

 illustrated, I beg to state, that in doing so I am only actuated 

 by a desire of combining my humble acquirements with those 

 of so many superior minds for the purpose of contributing 

 perhaps towards that important object, for which this Society 

 was formed, to diffuse useful knowledge throughout our 

 adopted country, to elucidate its own productions, or to show 

 how much a land, equally favoured by inexhaustible mineral 

 resources, by a serene climate and most fertile soil, may produce, 

 so that we may learn to appreciate those vast treasures, which 

 as yet hidden and undeveloped are dormant in its virgin soil. 



In ofiering some results of my last researches to the Philo- 

 sophical Society, I endeavour to fulfil those duties which every 

 one of us has seriously taken upon himself in joining this union ; 

 although I must confess, that I only answered with hesitation 

 the honourable call of commencing the series of dissertations, 

 which we hereafter may expect before this auditory, and with 

 which so many will adorn the annals of this Society, as I 

 could not conceal from myself how inadequate my powers are 

 for such a task. Only the thoughts, that science does not 

 disdain the smallest gift, that the last links of a long chain of 

 observations are often closed by a most insignificant discovery, 

 which isolated would be unimportant— only those thoughts 

 could induce me to offer out of the botanical treasures of this 

 country some novelties or rarities which rewarded my last 

 explorations. 



I shall bring under review chiefly such plants as have en- 

 larged genera, with but a limited number of species, such as 



