WCP3545

[1]

30 Nov

My dear Dr. Wallace

I did not intend to let so long a time elapse before replying to your letter of 30^th [20th?] but I was hoping to be in a position to get your some more information of the kind you want.

I am posting to you a copy of Dr. Wooll's¹ Census of Plants obtained in the neighbourhood of Sydney, as a matter of fact this [1 word illeg.] the Country of Cumberland in which Sydney is situated. The area of the country is 914,800 acres, or nearly 1420 square miles. It is undoubtedly rich in species but I do not know how it compares with the "Cape Region" of South Africa. It has a considerable variety of soils, sandy flats and hills, river flats with alluvial, basaltic <soil>, clay, marsh land and sea coast strips [2]

I think there are still twenty, in that region, of plants not included in Dr. Wooll's list which should be added otherwise it is complete and could be looked upon as a typical area for your purposes.

Mr Hedle, whom I met shortly after receiving your letter has had this list marked with the name of plants found by Dr. H G Chapman in the very limited area of Mosman shown in the [1 word illeg.] map stuck in the Catalogue.

I knew the late R.D. Fitzgerald well and in fact supplied him with species of orchid, from which some of his figures were obtained including one new species which he named after me — a Prasiphyllum².I can vouch for the abundance of the species found within a mile or so of his residence as I lived not far from him [3] and knew the ground thoroughly. This was one piece of ground which he used to call the "Thirty acres" where orchids were particularly abundant. When I came to write on the Parramatta River there was very little of the area left in the wild state, but there was one paddock — field it would be called in England — that was practically untouched by the hand of man. It contained at most three or four acres, and there were growing on it over 30 species — I believe the number was 35 — ground orchids.

I hope to get possibly some more information for you. Mr Maiden, the Director of the gardens here is away in Western Australia. He will not be back till after the new year but on his return I will find out what I can do. Mr A G Hamilton lived for 20 years in the Illawarra District and I [4] believe collected and recorded[?] his botanical finds. I will get him to send his [1 word illeg.]

A few years ago I was spending a holiday in Victoria on the borders of Gippsland. Professor Baldwin Spencer was one of the party and we discussed the question of distribution of plants and the richness of species in small and large areas very frequently. It was chiefly with regard to them because I was studying the Tertiary Fossil Flora and the leaf forms <less?> evidently those of trees and shrubs. I made a Catalogue after my return of the trees of Tasmania, Victoria, New Zealand and the County of Cumberland in New South Wales., taking as a <theme> everything that grew 10 feet & upward in height. County of Cumberland was a long way ahead of Victoria and Tasmania and was comparable with the whole of New Zealand with its variety of climate and condition. I have been [5] looking for my notes on the subject but have not succeeded in finding them. If I do <not?> I shall have a further search. I will send you the result.

If I can find the time I might be able to give you some particulars of the Flora round where I was living on the Parramatta River, but as I have not been able to do any collecting for some years past and I handed my collections over to the Linnean Society of NSW it may be rather difficult to do anything except very roughly but I will see what I can do. The same district now is cut up, built upon and trampled over. I am always glad I saw [it] in its pristine beauty.

I will write again as soon as I get any thing of value.

Believe me | Yours very faithfully

H Deane [signature]