Under G. s. tranquilla Frith (1982) mentions that the boundary between tranquilla and placida is not well known. This is because there is very little variation throughout eastern Australia, and there are no breaks in its distribution. Frith also states that placida is darker and smaller than tranquilla; however Condon (1975) asserts the opposite. This gives some idea of the difficulties facing people trying to delineate boundaries between these so- called subspecies. In summary 1 recognize only two subspecies in the Australian region: G. s. placida of Australia and New Guinea, and G. s. maugei of the Lesser Sundas. The latter is large and strongly barred on the breast and flanks (4 bars rather than 3 on each feather) has no brownish purple suffusion to the breast and flanks, has extensive chestnut on the inner webs of primaries and secondaries and has yellow or orange facial skin. It is also noteworthy that maugei of Sumbawa and Rinca Islands were attracted by and responded to taped calls of Australian placida. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS For the loan of specimens I am grateful to Dr R. Schodde (CSIRO), Mr S.A. Parker (SAM), Dr G.J. Ingram (QM) and Mr W. Boles (AM). I thank Mr S. Nevill for the use of unpublished data and Mr N. Kolichis for allowing me to measure eggs in his collection. I am also indebted to the late Dr. G.M. Storr for comments on the manuscript. REFERENCES CONDON, H.T. 1975. Check-list of the Birds of Australia: Non-passerines. Melbourne: RAOU. FRITH, H.J. 1982. Pigeons and Doves of Australia. Hong Kong: Rigby. MATHEWS, G.M. 1910-1911. The Birds of Australia, Vol. 1. London: Witherby. PETERS, J.L. 1961. Checklist of Birds of the World, Vol. 3. Cambridge, Mass: Mus. Comp. Zool. STORR, G.M. 1980. Birds of the Kimberley Division, Western Australia. Spec.Pubis West. Aust. Mus. No. 11: 1-117. STORR, G.M. 1984. Birds of the Pilbara Region, Western Australia. Rec. West. Aust. Mus. Suppl. No. 16: 1-63. STORR, G.M. 1985. Birds of the Gascoyne Region. Rec. West. Aust. Mus. Suppl. No. 21: 1-166. PLANTS COLLECTED BY J.A.L. PREISS FROM KINGS PARK IN 1839 By E.M. BENNETT, Kings Park and Botanic Garden, West Perth, 6005. ABSTRACT Johann August Ludwig Preiss was an important early plant collector in Western Australia. He documented his collecting localities with precision and recorded 22 species from Mt Eliza, Perth (now Kings Park) of which 12 were used by botanists to describe new species. 17 INTRODUCTION It is likely that a few early plant collections in the colony were made from Kings Park but many of the early collectors only recorded imprecise localities such as “Perth” or “Swan River”. In contrast, the visiting botanist Johann August Ludwig Preiss gave precise localities. For example he recorded the details of 22 plants including a fungus from the locality cited as “Elizamountain”, “Mt Eliza” or “Elizamontagne”, i.e. the scarp to the west of Perth between present day Parliament House and Kings Park. BACKGROUND Little is known about Preiss before he came to Western Australia. He was born in Herzberg am Harz near Gottingen, Germany on 21 November, 1811 and died there on 21 May, 1883. He was University trained and had been awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Preiss arrived at Fremantle on 4 December 1838 and spent three years in Western Australia making an excellent botanical collection, which together with those of James Drummond formed the basis for the early taxonomic studies of this state. He and James Drummond disagreed on several points although they did do some field collecting together. In addition to plant specimens Preiss also collected shells, insects, birds, reptiles and mammals; his precise collecting localities prove very useful today. In October 1839 when he had collected 1500 plant species, he offered the entire collection to the British government at a cost of £3000, but it was not purchased. After leaving Fremantle in 1841 Preiss went to England arriving in the spring of 1842 and stayed there until June before returning to Hamburg. Whilst in England William Hooker purchased seeds and specimens which gave Preiss the necessary finance to organise his collection. Under the guidance and supervision of J.G.C. Lehmann, Professor of Botany and Director of the Hamburg Botanic Garden, the organisation of a 2-volume work, Plantae Preissianae commenced. This work classified and described all of Preiss’s plant collections made in Western Australia. A number of European Botanists were invited to prepare treatments of various families for inclusion in Plantae Preissianae, but none were done by Preiss himself. This 2-volume work was published in 7 parts (4 in Volume 1 and 3 in Volume 2) between 1844 and 1848. KINGS PARK COLLECTION Preiss collected and identified approximately 2800 plant collections (Marchant 1990) which were made in the Swan River Colony between 15 December, 1838 to 16 January, 1840. Of these22 were collected from Mt Eliza and incl ude type collections of 10 species and 2 varieties. Six of the species are currently placed in synonymy. Kings Park is the Type Locality for the following species: Baumea preissii. A sedge to 45 cm tall forming stands in seasonally waterlogged areas bordering lakes and water-courses. The inflorescence is about half the height of the plant and the spikelets are purple-brown to grey- brown. It occurs from Red Hill south to Pemberton. Presumably collected from the base of Mt Eliza. 18 Scaevola holosericea. An erect, spreading shrub to 1 m tall with hairy leaves and terminal spikes of blue, rarely white flowers. It occurs on the sandy soils between Perth and Bunbury. Common in the Park. Trymalium albicans. A shrub to 1 m tall with pale yellow to cream flowers. This taxon was previously regarded as Trymalium ledifolium which occurs on the Darling Scarp. Trymalium albicans differs in flower colour, less hairy leaves and its later flowering period. It grows associated with limestone between Lancelin and Coogee and in Kings Park on the lower limestone slopes of Mt Eliza. Drosera porrecta (currently Drosera stolonifera). A tuberous herb to 25 cm tall with basal, spathulate leaves occurring in a rosette and cauline leaves whorled along the stem. The white flowers occur in terminal and axillary panicles. This species is widespread between Dongara and Albany and common in Kings Park. Aqaricus australius. A “mushroom” fungus which is now known as Lepiota australiarui. Pachysurus angianthoides (currently Calocephalus angianthoides). An annual to 8 cm tall with globular, creamy-yellow flower heads. Recorded from the metropolitan area but not often collected. No exact location in Kings Park is known as there is no recent collecdon. Elynanthus octandms (currently Tctraria octandra). A perennial sedge to 1.2 m tall with mainly basal leaves and leaf-like bracts up the stem. The dark coloured inflorescence is up to 25 cm tall. It occurs from Eneabba to Albany. Widespread in Kings Park. Patersonia turfosa (currently Patersonia occidentalis). A tufted plant with the flowers enclosed in 2, large, brown bracts. The purple flowers each last one day. It is a widespread species occurring from the Murchison River to Esperance. Scattered throughout most of Kings Park. Candollea parviflora (currently Hibbertia racemosa). A low shrub to 50 cm tall with narrow, stem clasping leaves, each leaf ending in three small points. The yellow flowers are axillary in the upper leaf axils. Occurs from Northampton to Esperance. Scattered throughout the Kings Park bushland. Libertia laxus (currently Orthrosanthns lanes'). A tufted plant to 50 cm tall with the purple flowers enclosed in 2, unequal sized, green bracts. This species is widespread from Northampton to Bremer Bay but is not very common in Kings Park where it is found on the sandy soil above the escarpment. Eurybia axillaris var exaltata (currently Olearia axillaris). A much branched shrub to 2 m tall with narrow, grey-coloured leaves. The small flower heads terminate small axillary branches. Occurs from Bernier Island to Eyre; also recorded from eastern Australia. Common on the limestone and sandy soils of the escarpment. Cryptandra tridcntata var tomentosa (currently Spyridium tridentatum). A low, nearly prostrate shrub with spoon-shaped leaves. The small flowers occur in terminal or axillary heads. It occurs from Wongan Hills south to Lake King. Common on the limestone and sandy soils of the escarpment. 19 A complete list of plants collected by Preiss from Mt Eliza and cited in Plantae Preissianae, volumes 1 and 2 (Lehmann 1844-8) is given below (Table 1). Table 1: Preiss collections from Elizamountain, Mt Eliza or Elizamontagne. Preiss Volume and Page Number Date Name Given in Plantae Preissianae Number 1874 19 Jan 1839 Typha shuttleuvrthii Sond et Koch 2:3 2306 20 Jan 1839 Hemiandra brevifolia Be nth. 1:355 2358 21 Jan 1839 Patersonia turfosa Endl. 2:31 2317 27 Jan 1839 Hemiandra hirsuta Benth. 1:355 1083 18 May 1839 Templetonia retusa R.Br. 1:88 93 19 May 1839 Eurybia axillaris DC. v exaltata Steetz 1:418 1689 19 May 1839 Pomaderris albicans Steud. 1:184 1689 19 May 1839 Trymidium albicans Reiss 2:280 1770 June 1839 Elynanthus octandrus Neers ab Esenb. 2:77 2663 June 1839 A^aneus australius Fries 2:131 2150 17 June 1839 Candollea paniflora Steud. 1:276 1985 20 Aug 1839 Drosera porrecta Lehm. 1:252 1735 Sept 1839 Baumea preissii Nees ab Esend. 2:75 638 23 Sept 1839 Petrophile macrostachya R.Br. 1:502 1478 23 Sept 1839 Scaexola holosericea de Vriese 1:408 1570 23 Sept 1839 Thysanotus tenuis Lindl. 2:37 2017 23 Sept 1839 Ricinocarpus tfhiucus Endl. 2:229 2230 23 Sept 1839 Libertia laxa Endl. 2:32 1216 25 Sept 1839 Cryptandra trulenuita Steud v tomentosa Reiss 2:289 1564 2 Oct 1839 Thysanotus anceps Lindl. 2:37 1571 25 Oct 1839 Thysanotus trutruirus R.Br. 2:38 1517 25 Oct 1839 Scaevola multiflora Lindl. 1:407 44 25 Oct 1839 Pachysurus an^ianthoides Steetz 1:442 Note number 1689, collected 19 May 1839 was described in Volume 1 as Ponualcrris albicans and in Volume 2 as Trymulittm albicans. SYNONYMY OF NON-TYPE COLLECTIONS Hemiandra brevifolia and Hemiandra hirsuta are both currently called Hemiandra pungens. Typha shuttleworthii currently is called Typha domingensis. Scaevola multiflora is currently called Scaevola nitida. Thysanotus tenuis and Thysanotus anceps were incorrectly named by Preiss and are Thysanotus thyrsoideus and Thysanotus arenarius respectively. CURRENTLY ACCEPTED NAMES The following species names listed by Preiss are still current today. Templetonia retusa Petrophile macrostegia Ricinocarpus glaucus Thysanotus triandrus COMMENTS Baumea preissi of Typha shuttleworthii do not grow in present-day Kings Park. Both are plants which grow in seasonally waterlogged soil bordering lakes and water-courses. With development of Mounts Bay Road this habitat was lost. 20 Calocephalus angianthoides has not been recorded in recent years from Kings Park so this presumably is a species which has become locally extinct with the development of Perth. It is of interest that Kings Park is a type locality for a number of species still extant so near the centre of a large city, and today can afford researchers the opportunity to revisit the type locality and to know that even though in the centre of a city the plants are safe. ACKNO WLEDG EMENTS I wish to thank Dr Neville Marchant from the Western Australian Herbarium who assisted and encouraged me with the preparation of this paper. REFERENCES BR1TTAN, N.H. 1987. Thysanotus. In: Flora of Australia 45: 308-338. HILTON, R.N. 1988. The Preiss collection of Western Australian Fungi. Nuytsia 6: 295-304. LEHMANN, J.G.C. (ed) 1844-1848. Plantae Preissianae, Hamburg. MARCHANT, N.G. 1990. The Western Australian collecting localities of J.A.L. Preiss. pps 1 31-135. In: SHORT, P. (ed) History of Systematic Botany in Australia, Aust. Systemadc Botany Soc. (inc). Brown, Prior, Anderson: Burwood. McGILLlVRARY, D.J. 1975. Johann August Ludwig Preiss (1811-1883) in Western Australia. Telopea 1: 1-18. SHAW, A.G.L. and CLARK, C.M.H. 1967. Australian Dictionary of Biography Vol 2, Melbourne University Press. THE COMBAT RITUAL OF TWO MONITOR LIZARDS, VARANUS CAUDOLINEATUS AND VARANUS GOULDII By GRAHAM G. THOMPSON, PHILIP C. WITHERS, Zoology Department University of Western Australia, Nedlands, W.A. 6009 and SCOTT A. THOMPSON, 22 Bentley Close, Mt Claremont, W.A. 6010. INTRODUCTION Ritual male combat has been reported for a number of monitor species, but this is the first report of male ritual combat for either Varanus caudolineatus or V. gouldii. Varanus caudolineatus is a small arboreal goanna living in the central coastal and interior areas of central Western Australia, whereas Varanus gouldii is found throughout most parts of mainland Australia with the exception of the extreme south-eastern part of the continent (Cogger 1986). Varanus caudolineatus At approximately 2.45 pm on 12 December 1990, two adult V. caudolineatus (20.1 and 21.8 g) were observed fighting for about 5 minutes, approximately 2 km East of Zado Bore (119° 07’E, 28°S; 55 km SW of Sandstone). The ambient temperature was 36°C and the V. caudolineatus were in an area with a partial ground cover of spinifex (Triodia sp.) and leaf litter over the red, gritty sand. Approximatelay 25% of all standing trees were dead and a proportion of 21