14 
INTRODUCTION 
authority is given for the generic name only in each case, and 
the system of nomenclature and classification adopted is that 
of “Bentham’s Flora Australiensis.” 
Great confusion of nomenclature unfortunately exists, 
especially in regard to specific names. Certain specimens have 
been found at different times, and in localities far apart, each 
botanist or collector giving a name to his discovery in ignor¬ 
ance of the fact that the plant had already been discovered else¬ 
where and named! Hence a confusion which, in numerous 
instances, requires considerable time to rectify. In these 
pages, few synonyms or alternative names are quoted, and only 
the oldest-established or best-known names are set forth. 
The heights of the various trees, shrubs, &c., are stated so 
far as they are known, and reference is made to all plants sup¬ 
posed to be poisonous or injurious to stock. 
A number of the nutritious Grasses, as well as those which 
are useful for scenic effects in landscape gardening, are men¬ 
tioned. And the same may be said of the Reeds, Sedges, 
Rushes, and similar plants, use for which may be found in 
binding loose soils, arresting sand by the seaside, clothing 
embankments of hard clay or shale, fringing lakes, ponds, or 
streams, for absorbing moisture in swampy places, or for 
carpeting dry spots where little else would grow. 
Some Aquatic Plants and Lilies, also many Ferns, are 
enumerated. The Orchid family, too, has received attention, 
and the list includes a fair proportion of the beautiful terres¬ 
trial kinds which are frequently striking objects amidst the 
Grasses of the forest-lands. 
A few so-called “Weeds,” whether annuals or herbaceous 
plants, may not be considered highly ornamental, but they have 
their uses, sometimes, for clothing bare places, or for placing 
in deep shade. Hany so-called weeds are very showy plants. 
The alphabetical arrangement of Botanical names used 
throughout the text, as also the index to the principal common 
or vernacular names at the end of the book, will, it is hoped, 
facilitate ready reference to plants which are known by either 
or both names. 
Common names are frequently quite uncertain in their 
application, in fact, misleading, while Botanical names, when 
