Abstract
ALTHOUGH the floras of the different Australian colonies present a certain homogeneity that unites them into a definite “Flora Australiensis,” there is also a considerable diversity between the fioras of the eastern and western sides of the continent; that of the western half is distinguished by its richness, the singular modifications due to physical conditions and the large proportion of endemic species. Exclusive of the northern tropical region, the vascular plants of Western Australia, according to the evidence of the Government botanist, Mr. A. Morrison, do not fall far short of 4000 species, and most of these are found in the south-west. The writers of this volume travelled through this portion of the colony, and also penetrated into the interior from Geraldton to Cue, and as far as Ranowna and Menzies in the Coolgardie district. Phytogeographical limits are determined mainly by the rainfall, which reaches a maximum of 39 inches in the neighbourhood of Cape Leeuwin and diminishes rapidly to 9 inches at Shark Bay in the North and Southern Cross inland; the botanical provinces outlined in this volume have been mapped out in accordance with the rainfall.
Fragmenta Phytograhiae Australiae occidentalis.
By L. Diels E. Pritzel. Pp. 608. (Leipzig: W. Engelmann, 1905.)
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Fragmenta Phytograhiae Australiae occidentalis . Nature 73, 149 (1905). https://doi.org/10.1038/073149c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/073149c0