36 
The Garden Magazine, March, 1923 
SILVER WATTLE (Acacia dealbata) 
One of the most popular of the Acacias in California with its 
feathery foliage and profuse flower-heads of clear yellow; 
and highly esteemed for cut flowers by florists of the East 
coastwise and northward; Moreton Bay, Bustard Bay, En¬ 
deavour River were discovered and named, together with other 
places, and Cook “ took possession of the whole eastern coast 
by the name of New South Wales.” 
Physical Character and Climate 
HE ORIGINAL New South Wales is an enormous tract of 
country about two thirds the size of the United States of 
America. It is now divided into four states—Queensland, New 
South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia; with Brisbane, 
Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide as their respective capitals. 
In each of these cities are well-found Botanic Gardens whose 
influence 1 shall have occasion to speak of later. In Cretaceous 
times a barrier of water divided the continent from north to 
south, and to-day is represented by arid and in parts desert 
country. Much of Queensland is within the tropics and this I 
shall not deal with here. Tasmania is botanically a province of 
Victoria with certain features of its own. The arid regions of 
central Australia are in general similar to those of western 
Australia with which they are contiguous and are omitted in 
consequence since space is limited. 
The boundaries between the states are purely political and 
artificial and nearly the whole of the country included in our re¬ 
view is largely a cordillera forming a fairly complete bulwark 
barring out the Pacific Ocean from the central plains. The 
highest peak of the system is Mount Kosciusko with an altitude 
of 7,340 ft. above sea-level which carries snow for many months 
of the year, indeed, in sheltered crevices the year around. 
There are other peaks over 7,000 ft. high and much of the south¬ 
west in particular is wild and mountainous. 
In contradistinction to western Australia the rainfall is largely 
a summer rainfall though over much of the territory it is fairly 
distributed throughout the year. South Australia is the dryest 
of the eastern states and in Adelaide the annual rainfall averages 
24 inches and is less than that of any other of the Australian 
capital cities. Over the coastal areas the rainfall is essentially 
a winter one. Tasmania has for its size a most remarkably 
varied climate and the annual rainfall varies from 18 inches in 
the east to 145 inches (Mt. Read) on the west coast. At Ho¬ 
bart, the capital, the annual rainfall is a little over 24 inches. 
On the highlands of Tasmania snow falls throughout every 
month of the year though it does not lie except in the winter 
months. During the winter period snow falls on the mountain 
ranges of the southeastern part of Australia proper. 
Eucalypts that Rival the Redwood in Height 
A S MAY be expected the eastern highlands, with their varied 
L range in altitude, climate and soils, support a rich flora. 
No fewer than 5,000 species are known to grow there south of the 
tropics but the floristic features are much less striking than 
those of western Australia. The coast belt and coastal table¬ 
lands of eastern Australia, well watered and with rich soils, 
CATERPILLAR ACACIA OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA 
Another of the decorative Acacias (A. Drummondi) used by florists. 
(See “Travel Tales,” page 268, January Garden Magazine) 
