4 



Mr. E. R. Stanley, Government Geologist, in his Those main divisions overlap in many places, and the 



report on his " Geological Expedition across the Owen 

 Stanley Kaiige" (1) , records a number of tem- 

 peratures. At 4,428 feet the thermometer stood at 

 70 deg at noon and at 66 deg. at 6 p.m. At 5,344 

 feet the temperatures were 63.5 deg. at noon and 

 61 deg. at 6 p.m. On the Owen Stanley Divide the 

 highest point reached, 9,110 feet, the temperature on 

 rhe lllh June, on a misty day, was 51.8 deg., and on 

 returning on the 4th July the temperature at 10.25 

 a.m., when the weather conditions were foggy, 52 deg. 

 was recorded. On the slopes of Mount Obree, at an 

 altitude of 8,200 feet, on the 2nd February, 1923, I 

 experienced a cheerfully warm day. At 11 a.m. it was 

 72 deg- Fahr.; everything was quite dry; the moss on 

 the trees — for at that altitude the forest is all of the 



least satisfactorily delineated type is the lowland iorest. 

 This is the mixed rain forest, and while it is found 

 at its best between and 1,000 feet, it also intrudes 

 into the foothill forests wherever there is a good 

 sheltered pocket of aluvium or rich soil. Mid-mountain 



forests are sometimes met with at 4,000 feet, and I 



have seen the oaks and hoop pines at an altitude of 

 8,000 feet. The mossy forest is also of rather un- 

 certain limits, especially where exposure to higli winds 

 occurs. I have seen a patch of it as low as 5,500 

 feet. The altitudes given above must therefore be 

 taken as indicating the type of forest that is pre- 

 dominant between the altitudes mentioned, but not 

 as a definite or precise limit avion of each type. 



type 



looked as though it 



mossy 



for some time : it had poured the previous day. By 



thing 



2.30 the clouds had enveloped the mountains and every - 



w r as dripping wet, while the temperature had 

 dropped to 58 deg. 



On the long ridge dividing the Kemp Welch and 

 Brown headwaters, which Mr. Stanley and I traversed 

 in February, the following temperatures were recorded 



In addition to the above, which, except for the 

 had not seen rain higher belt, are all composed of hygrophyllous tree 



vegetation, there are the savannah forests of the dry 

 belts, which are sclerophyllous types ; but even th 

 we find intermediate types and belts of mixed rain 

 forest, hard to distinguish from the typical form. 



KM y in in * 









Tate. 



Hour. 



! 



Altitude. 



Temperature. 



^ 





Feet. 



Degrees. 



10th February, 1923. . 



9 a.m. 



6,500 



56 



>» ♦» • • 



11.45 a.m. . . 



7,520 



61.5 



»> 99 



2.30 p.m. 



8,000 



59 



>> 99 ' • 



4.20 p.m. . . 



6,750 



68 



11th February. 1923.. 



6.45 p.m. 



0,750 



62 



>> 99 ' ' \ 



9 p.m. 



6,018 



63 



99 99 • • 



12.:;0 p.m. . . 



0,976 



64.5 



• 



99 99 ■ ' 



• 



2.15 p.m. . . 



7,340 



63 



the generally 



The humidity in the mid-mountain forests would 

 appear to be higher than in the lowlands and foothills, 

 while in the mossy forests there must be long periods 

 when the whole belt is saturated. Yet traces of fires 

 show that there are times of drought in the mossy 

 forests, and at such times the forest becomes quite 

 inflammable. To any one who has attempted the 

 exasperating task of trying to light a fire in the mossy 

 forests in what I regard as its normal condition of 

 soppiness, will find it difficult to believe that there are 

 times when it becomes quite dry. Certainly my experi- 

 ence on the slopes of Mount Obree came as a revelation 

 to me, and made it much easier to account for com- 

 paratively large patches of burnt mossy forest. Such 

 burnt patches are absent from the mid-mountain 

 forests, showing that while the mossy forests are more 

 often in a condition of saturation, they must dry up 

 verv rapidly and become more inflammable than the 



In the tidal estuaries of rivers and in all places along 

 the coast-line where there is a sheltered inlet or cove, 

 or a harbour with a flat shore, another formation is 

 met with, consisting of halophyllous trees. These are 

 the mangrove associations — forests of the sea. 



I will begin by describing the savannah forests : 



Savannah Forests. 



The savannah forests are confined to the dry belts, 

 which, as has already been explained (p. 2), occur 

 here and there throughout the Territory. These are 

 open forests, similar to the large areas that occur in 

 Australia. They are not forests in 

 accepted sense of the word, for the trees are too 

 scattered and too small to yield a profit to a saw- 

 miller, or to give one used to temperate dense forests 

 the idea of a forest. Yet the savannah forests yield 

 useful fence post wood and other timbers required 

 by the plantation manager, not to speak of firewood 

 for Port Moresby. So they are not to be entirely 

 despised from an economic stand-point. From the 

 scientific aspect they are of particular interest. As 

 has been pointed out under the section dealing with 

 climate, such dry belts can be expected when the rain 

 fall decreases below 70 inches. Much more data, how- 

 ever, is required regarding the rainfall of the interior, 

 and environmental factors governing the growth of 

 trees, before an explanation can be found for the 

 patches of savannah forest that are to be found at 

 various altitudes in the mid-mountain region. 



The composition of these areas is sclerophyllous in 



character. In the dry belt of the Central Division 



the trees consist of eucalypts of the following species : 



comparatively speaking drier mid-mountain neighbour- Eucalyptus alba Reinw., the poplar or white box of 



Queensland — it is easily recognizable by its large leaves; 



ing 



formations. 



Whe 



n 



land 



Alpine grass lands " are 

 reached, the humidity probably drops considerably 

 more, and fires should become extensive wherever there 

 are natives to light them. Mr. Monckton (2) , in his re- 

 port of his ascent of Mount Albert Edward, says: " The 

 whole of the forest on the summit (of the Wharton 

 Range) has been killed by extensive fires, and for miles, 

 wherever the eye rests, it meets a spectacle of gaunt 

 dead trees. M The altitude of this burnt country is 

 about 11,000 feet. 



2. FOREST REGIONS. 



The forest regions, except for the dry belts, may 

 be divided according to altitude as follows : 



Lowland forests 

 Foothill forests 

 Mid-mountain forests 

 Mossy forests 

 Alpine forests 



• * 



• * 



• • 





 1,000 

 5,500 

 7,500 



• • 



over 



1,000 feet al 



io ve sea. 



5,500 „ 



99 W 



7,500 ., 



>> 91 



11.000 „ 



?> >> 



11.000 „ 



?> >> 



(1) Annual Report, 1917-18. 



(2) Annual Report, British Xew Guinea, 1905-6, A pp. p. 89, para. 66. 



Eucalyptus papuana A. Cunn., the common small gum 

 around Port Moresby — it has not a persistent bark; 

 Eucalyptus clavigera F. Muell., almost as common as 

 E. papuana — it has a persistent bark half-way up the 

 bele which makes it quite distinctive. 



These three eucalypts rarely exceed 50 feet in height, 

 but as one gees inland Eucalyptus teretieornis Sm. 

 dominates the formation. This is the New South 

 Wales forest gum, and is known in Queensland as the 

 forest red gum, while here it is known as the narrow- 

 leafed gum. 



In addition to the eucalypts other trees of the myrtle 

 family occur. 



Melaleuca sp. (aff. M. leueadendron Linn) a small 

 tree on Hombron Bluff, and recorded by Mr. White 

 from the Astrolabe Range, where he found it quite 

 common. 



Melaleuca sp. (near M* leueadendron Linn), a large 

 paper-bark tree, fonnd in damp ground. 



