Abstract
Abstract The Nandewar Mountains are of special botanical interest, owing to their elevatiOn and Isolation. Their greatest altitude is about s,ooo teet, while they are situated about 90 miles west of the Main Divide. One Queensland plant, Pultenrea setulosa, was found there, which had not previously been recorded from New South Wales; also several southern plants which had not been recorded as occurring north of the Hunter Valley. Amongst these latter is a Victorian species, Asterolasia correifolia var Muelleri, known in the Buffalo Mountains and in the Kiandra district, and its discovery on the summit of the Nandewara extends its known range 400 miles northerly. The question is discussed as to whether it may have developed as a variety of the coastal form owmg to climatic change produced by the latest uplift in Tertiary time, which resulted in the formation of the Main Divide: or whether it mav possibly have reached the Nan-wars during the last glaciaf period in Pleistocene time, and have become stranded thtre owing to the resultant warmer temperatures over the intervening area since the close of the glacial period. To show the dominating effect of climate on plant-distribution, it is pointed out that around Boggabri, at elevations ranging from 800 to 1,200 feet, about 36 per cent, of the species noticed occur in Tasmania, while on the Nandewars, at altitudes ranging from 3,000 to 5,000 feet, and therefore in a more distinctly mountain or cool climate, about 60 per cent, of the plants found are represented in Tasmania.
Published Version
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