Ii8 Sutton, A Sketch of the Keilor Plains Flora. [v^!xxxni 



plants of the area (as compared with 9 per cent, at Sand- 

 ringham), and form a still greater proportion of the strictly 

 grass-land plants. The most prominent species are the Podo- 

 lepis, Leptorrhynchos, Craspedias, Vittadinia. Minuria, Heli- 

 chrysums, Brachycomes, and Calocephalus. 



Apart from those occupying the foreshore, the Chenopodiaceae 

 make a better showing here. 



Excepting the eucalypts, the Myrtacea are quite unrepre- 

 sented ; the Proteacese are also absent, and Leguminosae play 

 a very insignificant part. The most frequent member of the 

 last order is the secretive Bossicea prostrata. Eutaxia empetri- 

 folia, flattening itself out into a mat form, is fairly often seen, 

 but Lotus australis, the Psoraleas, the Glycines, and the rest 

 are rather uncommon. 



Epacrids are practically non-existent, only Astroloma humi- 

 fusa (at Bulla) and Lissanthe strigosa being recorded in Mr. 

 St. John's notes. 



Orchids are a somewhat rare feature of the flora. Only 

 Diuris punctata, var. alba, in the North-Eastern railway re- 

 serve, is at all frequent. The others are all sparingly dis- 

 tributed, the Microtis, Diuris pedunciilata, and Thelymitra 

 lo7igifolia perhaps less so than the others. 



The lilies are fairly well represented, principally by the 

 Arthropodiums and Dianellas, Burchardia and Wuraibea. 



Two ferns manage to exist in the open country. Strangely 

 enough, one of these is Cheilanthes tenuijolia, amongst the 

 most delicate and fragile of all, and the other the diminutive 

 little Adder's Tongue, Ophioglosstim vtdgatum. Both occur 

 frequently and widely, the latter seeming to have been im- 

 usually abundant this past season. 



As one would expect, the Cyperace?e and their allies, save 

 in the rare wet places and in the trenches in railwaj' reserves, 

 are almost confined to the creeks and the coast. 



Apart from grasses and composites, the plants most typical 

 of the grass-land belong to many less important orders. Velleya 

 paradoxa, now only found on the clay cliffs just south of 

 Brighton Beach, is here abundant, with its close relation. 

 Goodenia pinnaiifida. Five Pimeleas can be collected, all but 

 one b^ing quite common. P. serpillijolia and P. curoi flora, with 

 a very similar growth form, do not exceed a few inches in height, 

 though the latter in the shelter of the forest attains almost as 

 many feet, and bears flowers of a lighter shade. Stackhousia 

 linarifolia, also in stunted form, is constantly seen ; so is 

 Aspcrula scoparia and the Trichiniums, especially T. 

 spathulatum ; and these last, in their thickened root-stocks, 

 present a feature commonly possessed by plants growing in 

 dry places. Generally when the grass is dried up does the 



