Distribution of alkaloids in some Western Australian plants

Previous Australian phytochemical surveys for alkaloids (5, 7, 8) have been concerned mainly with plants that occur in the State of Queensland, and particular attention has been directed to those found in rain forest communities. Relatively little information is available concerning the occurrence of alkaloids in species that grow in the more temperate and arid regions of the continent. The present investigation was undertaken in an attempt to remedy this deficiency. By means of a simple field test, 1301 species representing 469 genera and 102 plant families that grow in the SouthWest and Eremean Vegetation Provinces of Western Australia (4) have now been examined for alkaloids. The plants investigated are mainly shrubs or herbs and the majority are native species, but some introduced and naturalized plants encountered in the field have also been included in the survey. Flowering plants were collected, and in all cases a voucher specimen has been lodged in the Western Australian Herbarium, Perth. The date of collection and precise details of the locality at which the species was found have been recorded on the herbarium sheets. Plants were collected during the day and packed loosely in plastic bags until the evening. A representative sample (ca. 5 g) of the tops of shrubs, or of whole herbs, was then chopped finely with secateurs and just covered with 1% HCl. The mixture was shaken vigorously, allowed to stand overnight, then filtered. The extract was tested with Mayer's reagent, which had been prepared by the addition of a solution of KI (100 g) in water (200 ml) to a solution of HgCl2 (27.2 g) in water (1200 ml) fol-