NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA. 
11 
PREFACE. 
T he need of a work dealing in a popular and yet 
scientific raanner with the native flowers of 
Victoria, Australia, has been felt for some time 
past, especially since nature study has become so 
general. Information on the subject of a strictly 
botanical character is obtainable from various pub- 
lications, but no work has been published, suitable 
for the general reader, dealing popularly and topi- 
cally with our wild flowers and plants, with special 
reference to their cultivation in home gardens. There 
is no doubt that there are many desirable plants still 
growing only in natural conditions which should cer- 
tainly grace our gardens. It is also a faet that many 
of our native plants are cultivated in other countries 
that are unknown to our own gardens, except perhaps 
in one or two special cases. 
Until quite recently it was not possible to obtain 
seeds of that graceful plant Ilumea elegans except in 
Europe, yet it has been known as a wild plant locally 
for many years. To instance this in a wider sense: 
in 1827 a book was published in England by Robert 
Sweet, F.L.S., beautifully illustrated with hand- 
coloured steel engravings, figuring nearly sixty 
native plants of Australia, every illustration being 
drawn from plants which were then in cultivation in 
England. Nearly ninety years have passed since 
the publication of that book, and it would be safe to 
