A Physiognomic Classification of Australian Rain Forests

Outside Australia, a valuable basis for the classification of tropical vegetation was provided recently by Beard (1944, 1946) and was. further developed by Fanshawe (1952), Richards (1952) and Beard (1955). Recent efforts to classify Australian vegetation have, for Rain forest, scarcely proceeded beyond the formation level, e.g. only Temperate Rain forest, Tropical Rain forest, Monsoon (Rain) forest, and Subtropical Rain forest have been recognized (Wood 1949, Beadle & Costin 1952, Williams 1955). These were all listed as subformations, but the present work suggests that Tropical, Subtropical and Temperate Rain forests are best regarded as distinct formations. This separation is in accordance generally with the ideas of Schimper (1903), and in the case of Subtropical Rain forest and Temperate Rain forest, with recent suggestions by Richards (1952, p. 368) and Robbins (1957) respectively.