8 
away. The variety of the plants, peculiar to these alpine heights is most charming, 
about one hundred species being restricted to elevations, on which snow falls during 
the greater part of the year. 
It would lead too far to enter in this document on any details of the vegetation 
of the Hume River country, as, moreover, the special phytographic observations find 
best their place in the works specially designed for the purpose. But I would wish 
to allude here to an important horticultural acquisition, which emanated from this 
journey, namely, a crimson variety of the almost arborescent Correa Lawrenciana of 
Sir William Hook er, which variety was never seen before, combining all the brilliancy 
of the flowers of C. speciosa with a hardy endurance to a cold clime, with very tall 
and stately growth, and with a shining lustre of large leaves. An entirely new tree, 
probably of medicinal value, the Bertya Findlayi, was also discovered ; while several 
Euealypts of New South Wales were noticed, which seem not to occur in other parts 
of our colony. The Tasmanian sassafras tree, pepper tree and bluegum tree, with 
many other southern forms of vegetation, were traced for the first time so far north, 
and really into the territory of New South Wales. The elevations to which 
numerous lowland plants ascend into the snowy ranges was also determined on this 
occasion. An Italian, Casparo Mussio, who accompanied me through Mr. Findlay’s 
kindness, and was familiar with many parts of these alps, proved an able companion. 
To do, however, justice to the task of examining the vegetation of so wide a tract of 
country closely— most parts of which as yet uninhabited and naturally of difficult 
access— it would be needful to devote many months specially for the purpose of 
penetrating through many of the mountain recesses, and of watching the numerous 
different plants throughout the season. Cursorily as this first journey necessarily 
was, which occupied my time from the 6th to the 26th January, it leaves, at all 
events, the vegetation of the Hume River district no longer unrepresented in our 
collections. 
From the 18th till the 25tli of February I went to the country about Mount 
Gellibrand, Mount Emu, Mount Elephant and to many interjacent localities, on which 
I did not touch, when proceeding on a more southern route to the Grampians and 
adjoining ranges in 1853. In these new travels I enjoyed every consideration and 
local support from Sam. Wilson, Esq., the Hon. Philip Russell, M.L.C., and Alex. 
Wilson, Esq. Irrespective of further tracing the geographic limits of many rare 
plants of the Western districts, I proved here the existence of the genius Wolffia, of 
the occurrence of which in any part of Australia we were not previously aware. 
From the 26tli of February till the 10th of March I proceeded through the ranges 
and heaths west of Cape Otway, the whole of the country in that direction having 
been beyond my reach, when, in 1857, the dense forests towards Apollo Bay and 
thence to Cape Otway came within the scope of my phytologic explorations. ' The 
very tall but extremely slender tree fern, Cyathea medullaris, first found by Mr. Wilkinson 
during Ins partial geologic survey of these regions, seems not to extend so far west 
as my journey through the coast tracts carried me ; but several other ferns of great 
rarity were observed in the deep, dark and ever humid glens, and the areal extent 
of many species of plants, the changes of their varieties, and their relation to 
geological and climatic conditions was traced to the rivers Curdie and Gellibrand. 
In this part of my recent travels I experienced most liberal aid from Dr. Curdie 
M.A., J.P., of Tondarook, and from Messrs. Oliver of the Gellibrand River. An 
important work, in which the department has shared during the year, consists in the 
elucidation of the plants of Lord Howe’s Island, largely accessible to us through the 
disinterested stay of Mr. Fullagar (accompanied j>y Mr. Lind) for nearly a year on 
this very isolated and phyto-geographically highly remarkable oceanic spot. I have 
not deemed it necessary to occupy in this already somewhat extended Report any 
space with references to amateur contributors who enriched our collections, as the 
names of finders of any rare or new plants, which may become at any time accessible 
to me, are recorded with scrupulous conscientiousness in the pages of my descriptive 
Lastly, it remains for me to refer to the issue of the educational collections 
as an additional engagement initiated in the departmental service. I had W in 
contemplation to arouse a more general and popular interest in the native vegetation 
surrounding us by choosing some means, for instilling the very first distinctions, 
more 
lectures. 
inviting 
^ , i v v o luoiiutuuus. 
than the use of text-books, and more fascinating than scholastic 
1 hough my aims were also— and not unsuccessfully so— in this direction, 
